Sessions 1–5

1. God Is Our Refuge

Christ is our secret place, our panic room and our place of safety. He is the only one in whom we find refuge in this world. When things spin out of our control, He’s always in control. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He is faithful and loyal. He is everything. He is our all in all.

Key Scriptures

The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.‭‭(Psalm‬ ‭46:11‬, NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬)‬‬‬

But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble.‭‭(Psalm‬ ‭59:16,‬ ‭NKJV)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Illustration

Plowing at night through rough, foggy seas, a battleship’s radar suddenly indicates an object directly in its path. The ship’s captain sends a radio signal, “We are on a collision course. Advise you to change course 10 degrees north.”

A response crackles over the radio: “Negative. We advise you to change course 10 degrees south.”

The captain can now see a blinking light from the approaching object. Perturbed, he bellows a reply: “I’m a ship’s captain. Change course 10 degrees north, now!”

“I’m a seaman second class,” comes the reply. “Advise that you change course 10 degrees south to avoid imminent collision.”

The captain is furious. He blurts another command: “This is a battleship! Change your course immediately!”

Back comes the calm reply: “This is a lighthouse.”

The battleship changed course.

Prayer Points

• Ask Christ to take centre stage in your life
• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you areas in your life that need God’s touch
• Surrender your fears and failures to the Lord
• Sing of God’s goodness and declare His power over your life

Daily Task

• Study and reflect on Psalm 91
• Spend 30 minutes in prayer
• Find other words for ‘refuge’ and apply them to your circumstances
• Revisit Sunday’s preaching

Mental Health Food

God is not only Lord of our physical life but our thought life, too. Ask Him to help you deal with any areas in your mind where you face struggles.

Read Psalm 1 and make note of anything God highlights to you.

2. God Is Our Strength

Strength to those who need it. That is our Saviour’s promise. He is our strength when we feel weak or experience situations that appear too much for us to handle. His call is simple, yet profound: ‘Come to me all you who are weary’. When we humble ourselves and seek His help it unlocks access to strength far beyond our own ability.

Key Scriptures

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.(Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV)

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.(Philippians 4:13, ESV)

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.(Isaiah 40:31, ESV)

Illustration

George Liele demonstrated a strength of compassion. Born into slavery, Liele was taught to read and write by his slave owners. He attended church, but believed he could only be loved by God if he did good things. But he submitted his life to God. His story will challenge those who have grown up in the church or in cultural Christianity to consider the gospel again.

Liele had a talent for teaching and was ordained as the first black pastor in the Baptist church in America. He preached to both white and black members in his church. He was freed by his master in 1776 and later moved his family to Jamaica and started preaching the gospel there. He was thrown in jail while there for preaching the gospel to slaves, but he was released and went right on preaching. He was the first known Baptist missionary, taking the gospel to Jamaica 10 years before William Carey went to India. He “left a legacy of slaves and former slaves who knew freedom and rest in Jesus Christ because of his faithful teaching”.

Source: erlc.com

God can use you too, no matter how difficult things may seem.

Prayer Points

• Ask God to reveal any areas in your life where you need His strength
• Ask for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit
• Identify the daily need for God’s touch
• Lean on God’s word and understand that it is progressive and not instant

Daily Task

• Read and meditate on Psalm 18
• Pray for 40 minutes
• Worship the Lord for 20 minutes
• Write out your goals to grow in God this year

Mental Health Food

The Lord is your strength. He grants power to the weak and those who call upon Him in their hour of need find strength.

Read and pray through Psalm 71.

3. God Is Our Healer

We are all familiar with the Scripture in Isaiah, ‘by His stripes we are healed’, and we all remember Jesus’ promise that healing is the children’s bread. But do we know them? Nothing makes us feel lower than illness and it’s God’s desire to lift us up and make us well. Christ wants to heal us from all our sicknesses and diseases!

Key Scriptures

Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.(Psalm 30:2, NIV)

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.(James 5:14-15, NIV)

But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord…(Jeremiah 30:17, NIV)

Illustration

A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes. She had said to herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Jesus turned. He saw the woman and said, "Don't worry! You are now healed because of your faith." At that moment she was healed.(Matthew 9:20-22, CEV)

At this very moment in time, God can heal you!

Prayer Points

• Declare God’s healing over you and your family
• Ask the Lord to heal you completely
• Refuse to accept sickness as a life sentence

Daily Task

• Look up Scriptures on healing and commit them to memory
• Ask for the elders of the church to anoint you with oil and pray with you for healing
• Stir your faith by reading Scripture and applying it in your life daily
• Take your medication, but understand that the Lord is your healer
• Christ has the final say. Seek Him in prayer for one hour today

Mental Health Food

Jesus is the one who heals our bodies and our minds. Surrender your thoughts to Him. Make Him Lord of your thought life and ask the Holy Spirit to be your filter.

Read and meditate on Romans 12:1-2.

4. God Is Our Provider

We all have different needs at different times in our lives and Christ provides for all of them, be it physical, emotional or financial. Without Jesus to lean on, our worlds would be much more difficult on many different levels. Choose to declare today: He is my provider.

Key Scriptures

Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."(Genesis 22:13-14, NASB)

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.(Philippians 4:19, NKJV)

Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.(Acts 14:17, KJV)

Illustration

George Müller (1805-1898) was a Christian missionary evangelist and a coordinator of orphanages in Bristol, England. Through his faith and prayers (and without asking for money) he had the privilege of caring for over 120,000 orphan children. He also travelled over 200,000 miles (by ship) to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 42 countries and to challenge believers about world missions and trusting God.

In his journals, Müller recorded miracle-after-miracle of God’s provision and answered prayer. Here is an example:

One morning, all the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty. There was no food in the larder and no money to buy food. The children were standing, waiting for their morning meal, when Müller said, “Children, you know we must be in time for school.” Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”

There was a knock at the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Müller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.”

Mr. Müller thanked the baker, and no sooner had he left, when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.

Source: missionmindedfamilies.org

Now you too can pray, let go, and trust God to work on your behalf.

Prayer Points

• Thank God for all He has done in your past
• Ask Him to continue to provide for all your needs
• Thank Him, by faith, for meeting your future needs

Daily Task

• Give your seed-faith offerings to the Lord
• Journal your short- and long-term needs
• Ask God to show you which of those needs are not in His plan for you
• Read and study Matthew 6:25-34
• Spend 40 minutes in prayer

Mental Health Food

Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].(1 Peter 5:7, AMP)

Read this verse and note the things you need to give to the Lord. Try not to focus on what isn’t going well in your life and instead find things to be grateful for.

5. God Is Our Way

The most essential tool in navigation is a compass. A compass helps keep you on course in spite of any external interference. It’s simple, solid and reliable. Even more so is Christ. His Word is our compass, a constant in an ever-changing world.

Key Scriptures

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.(John 10:9, NKJV)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.(1 John 2:15-17, ESV)

There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die.(Proverbs 15:10, ESV)

Illustration

In The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21), Jesus makes a profound statement we all should listen to very carefully. He states in verse 15 that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses.” The parable of the rich fool suggests this very thing. This parable tells of a rich man who has yielded a great crop. He decides to tear down his old barns and build newer, bigger barns. Then after he is done, he decides to retire, so to speak, thinking that he has enough stored up to last many years. Now he can sit back, relax, and take it easy. What happens? God calls him a fool and says that his life is required of him that day. Jesus completes this parable by saying, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” So many of us long for the day we can sit back and enjoy our fortune we have been saving up for retirement and take the path of easiness. This man was ruled by his wealth, thinking of all he had accumulated, only to die that night and see his wealth squandered and split up. He was unable to take it with him.

Source: bible.org

Prayer Points

• Ask God to help keep you on the right path
• Ask God for wisdom (James 1)
• Worship Him

Daily Task

• Spend an hour studying Proverbs 5, 6 and 7 and then pray over what you’ve read
• Write down any areas in your life where you need direction
• List out answers to prayers over the years
• Take serious time in prayer and thought

Mental Health Food

Ask for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. Seek God in a fresh way for you and your loved ones. Let God clear your mind and fill you with His peace that goes beyond our understanding.