And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold.” Nehemiah 8:10 (Amplified Bible, AMP)

Sometimes it seems like troubles pile up, doesn’t it? The enemy will try to hit us over and over again to steal our joy. He knows the joy that comes from an intimate relationship with God (Psalm 16:11) is what gives us strength. He strategically brings problems and obstacles at the same time to try to make us feel hopeless. If he can get our joy, he robs us of our strength. So, how do we manage to hold onto our joy in the midst of the attack?

The presence of the Lord brings us joy, therefore we must do what is necessary to remain in His presence. This means we stop throughout the day and speak to Him. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, and this simply means we keep the lines of communication open between us and the Father at all times. Prayer doesn’t have to be long or filled with a lot of fancy words. We can simply whisper “I love you.” and God hears and responds. Praying in tongues also connects us with Him and we don’t even have to think about what we’re saying!

To remain in His presence, we take time to praise Him for what He’s done and worship Him for Who He is. God is amazing beyond words and if we focus on Him, worship will flow right out of us. Tell Him how awesome you think He is. You will sense His presence when you do.

Finally, be mindful to stay in joy by releasing joy out of your mouth. In other words, when the devil wants you to speak depressing or anxious words, refuse to do it. Instead, just laugh. I find that laughter is such a release for stored-up emotions, and it is such a powerful weapon against satan. He hates to be laughed at because he is filled with pride. But, if you think about how transparent his attacks are and how defeated he already is, you just cannot help but laugh at him. Consider how puny he is in comparison to your heavenly Father! It’s just laughable for him to think he will ever come out the winner! Even if you have start by forcing a laugh, do it anyway. After a few “fake” chuckles, the laughter will become genuine and you’ll find your strength returning. And laughter and joy are good for our health.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Proverbs 17:22 (New Living Translation, NLT)

So, no matter how bad things may look, just laugh about it! The joy of the Lord will come and strengthen you, and the devil will have to flee.