A Battle Strategy for Discontentment

Discontentment is an easy trap to fall into. We see someone who has something we don’t have, and we think that thing is pretty cool. We begin to admire that thing. Wonder what it would be like if we had it. We wonder why we don’t have it. Wonder how we could get it. BOOM. We’ve fallen into discontentment.

It can happen with anything.

When we’re little, it happens with our friends’ toys. Maybe they had a trampoline, or a certain Beanie Baby, or a type of doll, that we didn’t have. When we were at our friend’s house, we would play with that certain toy with our friend. Then we would go home and want that toy for ourselves. BOOM. Discontentment and a Christmas/birthday list is made.

As we grow older, the cause of our discontentment grows deeper.

When we enter middle school, we begin to compare how we look to those around us. We think everyone else looks amazing, and we wish we could look pretty like them. BOOM. Enter discontentment and a horrible body image.

Our discontentment can be over someone else’s relationship status. Or their job. Or their house. Or their education. Or their car. Or their family.

The list goes on and on.

And this plague of discontentment isn’t something that’s new to our sociaty today.

Nope.

Discontentment stems all the way from the beginning of time.

Remember Eve in the Garden of Eden? She saw that the fruit was desirable for wisdom and would make her like God. She wasn’t content to be herself and rely on God. Nope. Suddenly, she wanted to be like God.

The Israelite people also had an issue with discontentment. God addressed it in the Ten Commandments.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17

So basically, covetousness and discontentment is a sin. 

How, then, do we get rid of discontentment?

I’ve already talked about the secret to being contentment before here on Coffee With Kara. You might like to check that post out as well.

Today, though, I’m going to be sharing a simple battle strategy to get rid of discontentment.

You ready for this?

Here we go.

Bounce to prayer.

Say what?

Bounce to prayer.

Let me explain.
Whenever we begin to feel discontent, whenever the first thought of “Oh I wish I had that” pops into our head, we bounce to prayer.

We instantly pluck that sneaky seed of discontentment out of the soil of our minds and begin to pray.

Pray for an unbeliever or
Pray for your family or
Pray for safety for your friends or
Pray for the leaders of your church or
Pray for the national leaders or
Pray for missionaries or
Pray for the local schools.

OR

Give thanks to the Lord for what you do have.

Praise God for who He is and what He has done.

Think about “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable…” (Phil. 4:8).

We are called to “take every thought captive to obey Christ,” and bouncing to prayer is a great way to do this (2 Cor. 10:5).

Because whenever you cast out that thought that quickly can turn into sin and expose it with light, it’s gonna go away. The enemy isn’t gonna want you to pray. He shakes with fear whenever you pray.

So if every time you face the temptation to be discontent you bounce to prayer, you and Jesus will be able to overcome that temptation and that specific attack will stop coming.

1 Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Let’s stop our cycle of discontentment by developing the battle strategy of bouncing to prayer!

If this post encouraged you, you’ll enjoy my eBook, Single Conversations. Find out more.

Posted by Kara Beth & filed under Faith Tips. This post has 2 comments.