God Will Never Forsake Me

Healing & Restoration

Background

Area of Trauma

This study can help someone overcome fear of abandonment, fear of rejection, fear of being left alone in times of need or danger, and over-attachment to relationships.

Symptons

Unable to express their own needs or desires out of the fear of losing another person’s (or group’s) acceptance, friendship, or love. or their acceptance.
Never really feeling belonging to any group or social setting.
Sensitive to ciritism.
Need to be in constant contact with certain individuals, and when met with silence, is quick to give in to fear or the assumption of rejection
Feel the need to earn people's (or group's) approval or acceptance
The constant feeling of never being good enough, or the need to do more to be accepted.

The Truth and Lies about Abandonment

Everyone experiences some form of rejection or abandonment at some point in life. When experiencing abandonment as a child, however, the impact translates into behaviors lasting into adulthood, long after the traumatic event has occurred.

In a perfect world, a world God created for us before the Fall, children and newborns are supposed to receive love, nurture, and protection from their parents and/or caregivers. Sadly, not every child experiences this, and whatever the child receives, they register the experience as ‘norm’ and develop certain beliefs about themselves and the world around them. These messages become ‘truth’ to the child and guide their values and behaviors into adulthood. Tragically, this often means living in constant fear, unrealistic expectations of themselves, and unhealthy connections with others.

How God helps us

God is our creator and the perfect father. He made us and was there when we were conceived in our mother’s womb. He was, is, and will always be there for us. (Read Psalm 139). The reality is that our human parents, caregivers, and life partners are imperfect. They are not always able to give us the love, nurture, and protection we need. Our heavenly father, however, is one we can trust to love, nurture, provide, discipline, deliver, defend, and protect us in all circumstances. This does not mean bad things will not happen. Rather, God promises that we can trust him to take care of us in all circumstances. He will never forsake us.

Hence, by returning to God and his truth, we can replace the lies we have come to believe about ourselves and the world around us with God’s truth. God's truth is the foundation of our spiritual healing and restoration.

This Bible Study is one of many that can transform your life by

• Changing your beliefs about being abandoned or rejected.
• Developing your trust in God, one only one who will never forsake you.
• Showing you how to connect with God
• Teaching you to relearn your identity

The Bible Study & Prayer

Outline of the Bible Study

We identify the experience of abandonment, rejection, and fear of being left alone.
We claim God’s promises that he will never abandon us
We learn from Jesus how he trusted in God in difficult situations.

1. Experience of Abandonment, Rejection, and Fear of Being Left Alone

Psalm 27: 8 –10 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.

Psalm 71: 9 Do not cast me away when I am old, do not forsake me when my strength is gone

When you read these prayers, what do you hear in the heart of the person praying? What experience do you think they may have had with abandonment or rejection? Here are some possible answers:

1. God’s silence. “Do not hide your face from me.” They have either never experienced God’s presence in their lives or have prayed but have not heard from God.

2. God’s anger. “Do not turn your servant away in anger”. Perhaps they have a guilty conscious from sin and hence expect that God would reject them in his anger.

3. From his parents. “Though my father and mother forsake me.“ Parental rejection can be emotional absence, physical distance, or outright rejection (telling you that your birth was a mistake or that they wish for a boy or a girl instead of you). The rejection can also come from other relationships, siblings, authority figures (teachers, bosses), or friends. The reference to parental rejection shows the most unlikely yet the most impactful kind of human rejection.

The psalmist has some knowledge of God, and the prayer reflects that. What can we glean from the text?

1. His heart tells him to seek God’s face. The eyes on the face specifically communicate love and kindness more than any other body parts. The person seeks God’s affirmation that he is loved and accepted.

2. He has experienced God’s help before: ‘You have been my helper’

3. In his plea to God to be there for him, ‘Do not reject or forsake me, God my Savior’, he affirms his belief that God will not reject or forsake him. He struggles to overcome the internal message that he is abandoned and left alone.

Now Your Turn

In this step, we want to personalize and internalize the prayers. Ideally, this is the part you want to do together with your spiritual leader or therapest, particularly the first time. Practice this prayer several times in your healing process, and watch your faith grow and your mind change.

Personalize the prayer by inserting your specific issues and concerns into the prayer. You follow the text in the Psalms only as a guide, not simply reciting them. Because when you pray, it is the words from your heart that speak to God and that connect you and God.

Internalizine the prayer by frst accepting the text, then allowing its meaning to grow in your heart and mind. In this case, the internalization leads to belief.

Here are some practical steps:

1. Talk to God about seeking him – tell him what you see when you look at his face, or what you are looking for?

2. Remember how God has helped you in the past – thank him and remind yourself that God will always be there to help you when you ask for it.

3. Talk to God about feeling abandoned or rejected, either recently or from a childhood experience. Tell God that you understand that humans may fail you, but God will never fail you. Thank God for all the people he has put in your life who love you, accept you, and care for you just as you are.

4. Thank God for having brought you to where you are today, in spite of the trauma you may have suffered in the past.

Now finish this prayer with the rest of the verses in Psalm 27 (v11-14)

Listen to this recording for an example.

Additional Bible Verses on other types of fears

You can apply the same analytic process to learn the scriptzres below and to personalize and internalize them as your own.

Psalm 38: 20-22 Those who repay my good with evil lodge accusations against me, though I seek only to do what is good. LORD, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.

Fear of being misunderstood, rejected or accused by people we know – coworkers, neighbors or family members.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Fear of financial insecurity.

Do you identify with any of these fears? Pray these prayers in your own words and speak to God about your specific situations or fears. Surrender these fears to him.

2. God's Promises to Never Abandon Us

There are three kinds of people God promises to never abandon or forsake: those are vulnerable, those he has chosen and those who seek God.

a. God has compassion on the vulnerable.

Isaiah 41:7 The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, The God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16-17 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

 God promises to take care of the vulnerable – if you have experienced abandonment as a child, remember that God was there- he saw how you hunger and thirst for love and security, he saw how scared you were when you heard your parents fighting or when you saw the worries in your widow mother’s face. Though you may not know it or felt it, he was there and has been there holding your hand. Not only that, he’s the one who brought you out of the darkness into light. In spite of the difficulties you had in your childhood, God has been watching over you and has led you to where you are today.

Now Your Turn

Go to God to claim his promise to never forsake you. The example below is for general use. If you are dealing with childhood trauma of abandonment, your spiritual leader or therapist will take you through the prayer, which is different than the general prayer.

Claim Go's promise to never forsake me.

Dear God, you promise that you would take care of those who are vulnerable. I feel vulnerable when <fill in your specific situation, for example>

I grow old and there is no one there to take care of me.
When we move to a new city/church/job where we don't know anyone. Will people help us when we are in need?
What if I get sick or lose my job/income? I am single, and there is no one I feel like I can turn to.

I am thankful for the people you have provided to care of me (mention or remember specific persons or situations) at my current situation/job/city/church. It is you who brought them to my life, and you who prompted them to be kind and generous towards me. I am thankful for them and will miss them.

I know you are watching over me and you already know about my future. You will continue to provide for me in every circumstance, as just you have been doing. I surrender my fear to you and trust that you

b. God does not forsake those he chose

Isaiah 49: 14-16

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me,” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and heave no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the psalms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

 God has compassion on those he chose to be his.

c. God does not forsake those who seek to do his will

Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken for their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely, their children will be a blessing.

Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

 God loves a righteous person – someone who seeks him and who desires to do his will. It is consistent with his nature / character to take care of those obey him.

Joshua 1:5 As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestor s to give them.

 God stands by those who does his will – and who are willing to take on tasks that seem too big for them.

Example Prayer 2 – as someone who seeks God

Dear God, you love those who seek you and who desire to do your will. You see that I am trying, even though this is kind of new for me. But you love it. You love my heart, my faith – even the little I have, and you promise to be there for me

Jeremiah 29: 11-14a For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, “ declare the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.

 Get to know God, to trust him by seeking him