Have you ever gone to church or to a friend, and you were so down that you felt like you just didn't have much to give? And then when you left, you even had less. Well this shouldn't be. We are to encourage one another and build each other up. We are not to tear each other down with our words. Likewise, we are not to abandon brothers and sisters who need help. 

It has been said that the Christian army is the only army that kills its wounded. This sounds harsh, but many times it's true. Often when a Christian falls into trouble or sin, we can't wait to get on the phone and start calling around to have others "PRAY." I wonder sometimes what we enjoy the most -- the calling or the praying. Ask yourself this question. Do you pray first or call first and pray later? 

A lady once told me that everyone in her church thought she was a great prayer warrior. They trusted her with their problems and secrets because they knew she would pray. She said the reality of the situation was this. She stayed so busy talking to people about their problems and calling others to pray about the problems that she rarely prayed herself. One day she realized that instead of being a person of prayer she had slowly turned into a person of gossip. 

Satan is a deceiver and the king of deception. Sometimes he can get us so wrapped up in the process of doing good that the process becomes more important than the purpose. 

Today I want to encourage you. You may have problems in your life. God’s promise does not say there will be no mountains in our path. His promise gives us the authority to remove the mountains as we encounter them. Just because things look like they are going wrong in your life, it doesn't mean you are not in the will of God or that you are a bad person and have done something drastically wrong. Don't accept the guilt that some will try to put on you. Do not walk by what you see, but walk according to what He has promised. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all (Psalm 34:19).

or we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). 

I want to encourage you to build up someone else today. Pray for someone else. If you know of someone who is having financial problems, pray for them. If you know of someone who is sick, pray for their healing. If you know of someone who needs their family to be healed, pray for them. Don't condemn them. Don't spread rumors. Pray for them. Be an encourager. Don't bring others down. Lift them up.

Now I would like to pray for you.

Dear Father, I want to lift up everyone who is reading this devotional right now. Father, I ask that you minister to them at this very moment by Your Holy Spirit. Let them know that You are a loving, good God and that you have peace that the world can not give. Father, by Your Spirit, right now, give them supernatural understanding. Let them know that Your peace is available right now, wherever they are, whatever they are doing. Jesus said, "Peace I give to you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." So now in the name of Jesus I pray, receive supernatural peace. Amen.