Today I want to talk to you about silencing the voice of

defeat. In the book of Nehemiah is a story about an Israelite who was

cup bearer to the king of a nation that was ruling the land of Israel.

The city of Jerusalem had been taken, and the walls of the city were

fallen. When Nehemiah heard this he asked the king for permission and

money to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city. The king

sent him. Nehemiah surveyed the wall privately, then gathered up the

Israelites living there and gave an inspirational speech. Everyone was

moved, but three different leaders from the area weren't so excited.

Nehemiah 2:19 (NKJV) says, "But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the

Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us

and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will

you rebel against the king?" These men represent the voice of defeat.

There is a voice of defeat that speaks to you. Psychologists call this

voice our inner critic. The Bible exposes this. And there are three main

areas the voice will attack; our value, our authority, and our ability.

Each of us has a voice within that reminds us of what's wrong with us.

And as we set out to rebuild the walls, we set out to grow, to win, to

climb new mountains, to repair our marriage, or to succeed in this life,

that voice of defeat is right there to try and tear us back down, to

steal our joy, and keep us where we are. Whether this voice is fueled by

Satan, or friends, or enemies, or wounds or our own insecurities, the

voice poses as a friend, as an ally of sorts, and pretends to motivate,

but hurts us, discourages us, shames us, tells us were not loved, not

funny, we are ugly, you're out of your league, you're not a winner,

you're a sinner. Today we learn how to silence the voice of defeat, we

learn to silence this inner critic.