7 Weapons That Helped Me Battle Depression

Last year I fell into depression, and it was the darkest time of my life. Each day I reached new depths of misery I didn’t know existed. My heart was constantly overflowing with sadness, and my eyes were sore with pouring oceans of tears.

Some days, I couldn’t garner the energy to leave my bed, other days it was the want to live I lacked. Then there were a few days when I thought things would get better, only to be disappointed and fall back into despair. I thought about death a lot. I wished it would come so I could be in heaven where there would be no more pain, just everlasting joy with Jesus.

Depression is not easy, especially as a Christian. When you fall into depression as a believer, you also must fight for your faith. Many times I had to resist the urge to believe that God had abandoned me. I had to accept that He was still good even though life was not, and I had to keep on believing He would work everything out. If I couldn’t do all that, I dove deeper into despair.

But being depressed and in a constant state of misery is not how God wants us to live. Jesus said He came so that we may have life and have it more abundantly; furthermore, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that we are to rejoice always for it is God’s will for us.

Depression is a thief that only seeks to kill and destroy; it robs us of our joy and sucks the life out of us. But God hasn’t left us defenseless against it. When I fell into depression last year, these seven weapons helped me battle it, and pull through.

1. Prayer 

I think prayer was my greatest weapon against depression. It helped me a lot because it put me in God’s presence and kept my eyes on Him instead of the world. Prayer in depression for me is like when Peter walked on water. In Matthew 14:22-33, when Jesus called Peter to join Him, Peter started walking at first. But then he took his eyes off Jesus to focus on the wind, he became afraid and began to sink.

In life, when we choose to be afraid and anxious about our troubles, we begin to sink into depression. Jesus is always stretching out His hand to get us up to our feet, and one way to take it is through prayer.

Many times, when I prayed, I felt the peace of God that stilled my restless mind, I felt His presence and His power and remembered that with God all things are possible, and He could turn around my seemingly hopeless situation. And hope, no matter how small, is a treasure.

2. The Bible 

Talking to God and also hearing back from Him was essential in my battle against depression. His promises, words of encouragement, and love kindled a little fire in me that no darkness could overcome.

His words encouraged me so much that I wrote down some Bible verses on paper and put it on the wall next to my bed so that I could feed off them daily. I had different to go scriptures that I read when I needed encouragement, depending on what was weighing me down.

For example, when I lost my dream job, Isaiah 43:18-19 comforted me. It taught me to forget the past and embrace the future God had for me. When it was hard for me to wait for God’s timing, I would read Lamentations 3:25-27 to encourage me in my wait, and not to despair.

I have more Bible verses that I categorized by type in my post 30 Encouraging Bible Verses for hard times.

3. Christian counseling

When going through depression, you need support, a whole lot of it. One of the reasons I fell into depression was because I was lonely and had no friends. I had no one I was remotely comfortable enough to talk about my feelings. And struggling with depression alone, it’s one of the worst things you could do.

There were days I thought I would explode if I didn’t share my feelings with someone. But thankfully, God orchestrated events that led me to a church ministry near my house that offered free therapy from professional counselors.

From the first session, when I told my counselor what I was going through, I felt relief. I had a safe space to talk about my emotions, and I had someone who listened to me and acknowledged my pain. Best of all, as a Christian counselor, she was also able to help me with keeping my faith, which was my biggest struggle.

Do not go it alone, whether it’s a counselor, spouse, friends, or family members, share what you are going through with someone.

4. Keeping a gratitude list

In the beginning, when Adam and Eve were in the garden, God gave them access to lots of things. He kept only one thing from them. And they chose to focus on the one thing He had refused instead of the many He had given them.

And like a dog who returns to its vomit, we repeat their folly. When we fall into hard times, we tend to forget all the things that God has done for us and fix our minds on what He hasn’t done. As a result, we believe that He won’t help us and either fall into depression or fall out of the faith.

When I was going through depression, I struggled a lot with my faith. However, things got better when I started keeping a gratitude list. One night, I opened my journal and asked the Holy Spirit to help me remember all the things God had done for me in the past.

No sooner did I say amen, that memories of God’s faithfulness flooded my mind. As I kept remembering and writing them, my heart became brighter. I began to feel more thankful, and a grateful heart has no room for depression. So, whenever depression got the best of me, I read over that list and become encouraged and hopeful.

Start a gratitude list too if you don’t have one, even if you think God hasn’t done big things or anything in your life. You will be surprised by what God has done that you may have missed.

5. Serving / Volunteering

Another reason I fell into depression was because of unemployment, and since I had a lot of free time, I frequently served whenever I saw an opportunity. I noticed that whenever I was serving, and for some time afterward, my spirits were higher. That’s because when I helped others, I didn’t have time to dwell on my troubles.

When I served in different projects, I had the opportunity to be part of the work God was doing. I was contributing to something bigger than me and could see His amazing plans unfold.

Knowing that I was an answer to a problem,  instead of a problem looking for an answer attacked the gloomy feelings of depression. Furthermore, it helped me get out of the house and put me around other believers. They encouraged me, and some even prayed over me.

6. Christian Music

Music is a balm for the soul; it can lighten up your spirits and bring joy to your heart. Music has always been a source of comfort for me in hard times, and it has always been able to make me feel better or change my mood.

Christian music, with its faith-filled and inspiring lyrics, was an effective weapon against depression. Sometimes it made me sing in worship and filled my heart with love for Jesus. Other times, it made me dance and brought joy to my heart.

But the best way music has helped me battle depression is by drawing me closer to my most excellent source of comfort and peace, Jesus. There are lots of great Christian songs that will encourage you and help you battle depression, check out my top 12 Christians songs that assisted me in mine.

7. Christian books

Even though I love reading, I never intentionally searched for books to help me through my depression. However, two books came unto my radar unexpectedly and were of tremendous help.

I highly recommend anyone battling depression, to learn from the knowledge and wisdom of others. There are lots of Christian books that deal with suffering and provide great resources and pieces of advice. And if you are looking for recommendations, below are the two books that helped me.

Hope in the dark: Believing God is good when life is not by Craig Groeschel.

In the middle of your profound pain, you long for authentic words of understanding and hope. You long to know that even in overwhelming reality, you can still believe that God is good. Rediscover a faith in the character, power, and presence of God. Even in the questions. Even now.

This book helped me in my struggle to believe in God’s goodness when everything in my life was going downhill. What helped me most was when Groeschel said that when all you have is just the want to believe, it’s already good enough.

Love Life Again: Finding Joy When Life is Hard by Tracie Miles

In Love Life Again, Tracie reminds readers they each get only one life to live and inspires them not to take it for granted. Through compelling personal stories and powerful insights from Scripture, she helps women identify the stumbling blocks to their joy and offers tools and insights to take back control of their happiness. Every chapter ends with a practical call to action to motivate readers to begin loving their lives again.

Reading this book, I realized that hard times will always come in life, and if I waited for them to pass before being happy, I would always be miserable. I also realized I didn’t have to just beat depression but also had to find joy in life again.

I hope one or more of the weapons mentioned above with help you. But depression is grave, and the only weapon guaranteed to work is the name of Jesus!

His name is above every other name, including depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, etc. If it has a name, the name of Jesus is above it.

He has given us the authority to overcome the power of the enemy, and victory will always be ours when we call upon His name. So, if you are fighting depression today, call upon the name of the Lord.

Also, If you are going or went through depression, please leave in the comments section some things that are helping you or helped you. The more weapons against the enemy we have, the better.

  Grace and peace to you!