For an example of how I used these questions see: When No One is Commenting on Your Blog.
- Why are you unhappy?
- What do you think will make you happy?
- Will that really make you happy? Why or why not?
- Are you able to create the conditions you think will make you happy?
- Yes: If so, do you think God wants you to work on that? Why or why not?
- No: If not, is there anything else you can do to make life better? Explain.
- Is God enough to satisfy you, even if you don’t get what you want?
- What is one thing you can do to draw closer to Him today?
- What is one thing you can do to show love to others today? Be specific.
- Is there anything you need to accept?
- Is there anything you need to hold with open hands?
- Is there anything God wants you to do?
- What can you thank God for in this situation?
Possible things you’ll need to accept with discontentment: that life doesn’t always go the way you want it to go, that people don’t always do what you want them to do, that God calls you to love even when it’s not easy or fun to love, and that God calls you to be thankful even when you don’t feel like being thankful.
Possible things you’ll need to accept with loneliness: that people don’t always love you the way you want to be loved, that people sometimes leave when you don’t want them to leave, that it can be hard to make friends, and that you might have to be the one to make the first move if you want more friends.
Possible things you’ll need to confess with discontentment and loneliness: that you’re making something more important than God wants you to make it, that you’re not holding all things with open hands, that you’re relying on people and things to get your needs met instead of relying on God, that you’re expecting others to reach out to you rather than you reaching out to others, and that you have a demanding spirit.
Bible verses
Psalm 43:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (NIV)
Psalm 40:1-3a I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Psalm 63:1 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is so water.
Psalm 63:7-8 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 68:19-20a Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation. God is to us a God of deliverance.
Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
John 16:33 These things I (Jesus) have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world.
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 6:7-8 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Note: These questions are from the iPhone app I Deserve a Donut. To find out more about this app, click here. To see an example of how I used these questions, click here.