Monday's Musings: On Battling Depression with Prayer

Though I'm getting out a day late, I'm not going to get depressed about it.😉

Today I want to look more closely at the idea of praying about depression. I have to confess that I'm not so good at sustained prayer. I pray often throughout the day, but long sessions of covering all the needs (or, for that matter, all the praises and thanksgivings) don't happen so well. This is an area in which I truly want to grow, so I plan to keep trying. 

One thing I recently did to help me avoid distractions is to move my morning devotional basket over by a bedroom chair instead of having it at my desk where my computer and bullet journal are - both severe attention grabbers.

Besides my Bible, I have my journal, grattitude notebook, and prayer list notebook in here. I usually have lots more colored pens (I like color), but had them elsewhere at the moment.

Sometimes we don't pray about our depression as we ought. Sometimes I feel like I deserve to feel awful because I've really blown something, so I don't feel like I should ask for relief from the depression. 

Did you notice how often I used the word "feel"? During times of depression we're often over-focused on our feelings rather than the truth.

The truth is that Jesus loves his people and wants to give them joy. So, our prayers might have to start with confession and repentance. We may need to confess that we've sinned, or made a big mistake that may not have actually been a sin, and that we need help to overcome the mistake and the feeling of failure that might come with it.

Jesus says in John 6:37 that "whoever comes to me I will never cast out." He wants us to come; he wants to forgive us and give us joy. After all that is part of the fruit of the Spirit. Ask Him for it.

James 1:5-8 also reminds us that God gives wisdom to those who ask it of Him if we ask rightly. Depression isn't wise and we can often combat it with the wisdom that God shows us in His word as we talked about last week. So we should ask for that wisdom and joy. 

We should ask God for the power to be transformed by the renewing of our minds as commanded in Romans 12:2. When the depressing thoughts are plaguing us, we need to ask Him to replace those thoughts with the truth of His love, forgiveness, and many blessings. We need to ask Him to give us a new perspective because sometimes we're so blinded by the heavy, sad, hopeless feelings that we need His help to see the beautiful, joyful blessings.

We also need to ask Him for the physical strength sometimes to even just get out of bed. Or to wash the dishes. Or to make the bed. Or change that diaper. Sometimes depression can sap us of all energy and we need His help to just do the next thing. But, from experience, I know that the doing of the duty brings some lifting of the depression. It makes you feel better about yourself and it makes your environment more pleasant which really helps.

So run to the loving Father with your cry for help. He loves to help His children. He may not solve the causes of the depression right away, but he can certainly carry you through the hard times and give joy in the journey.

My other posts on 10 Steps Out of Depression are here:
10 Steps Out of Depression
Battling Depression with God's Word