Encouragement

I love to be an encourager.  I'm really happy if I can say or write something that helps another.  If someone walks away from me feeling better than before, I feel good too.  I've had many encouragers in my life and I'm thankful for each one.

I read one of my favorite verses in the Bible yesterday morning:

"but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God."  1 Samuel 30:6

As much as we all need each other, there are times when we must encourage ourselves.  There are times when we need encouragement and no one else is around.  David knew, and we need to know where our help comes from.  When he stood alone, his men talked of stoning him, David encouraged himself in the Lord.

Tuesday night our evangelist, Bro. Disotel, preached from Jude verse 20:

"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost"

If David's story had been found in the New Testament, we could have easily read, "David, prayed in the Holy Ghost and he was encouraged."  Our greatest victories come from praying in the Holy Ghost.  It's not enough to just show up for prayer ~ half-hearted prayers are going to get half-hearted results.  And that doesn't have anything to do with the volume of your prayers!  We can walk away from a prayer meeting still carrying the load of discouragement if we don't truly pray in the Holy Ghost. 

I encourage you to be an encourager and learn to encourage yourself in the Lord!