Heavenly Father, I praise You for being my Creator and knowing me better than I know myself. I praise You for creating man with intelligence and the ability to learn. I praise You for the advancements we have made in medicine, psychiatry, and our understanding of the human body and condition. I ask today that You help me take command of my day and shake all the evil, warring thoughts and lies of the enemy from me.
Holy Spirit, Your word says in Psalms 139 that You have searched me, know me, and understand my thoughts. You know how I was formed, how my body works, and the uniqueness of who I am. You know the deepest parts of my heart and what drives me, scares me, makes me bold or vulnerable, and You created me to be me, not like anyone else. I struggle at days with depression and must seek You for guidance and discernment of the best ways to deal with this. I have friends who suffer from schizophrenia, those who have hormones that are not right that cause depression, friends who have faced very traumatizing
events that harass their thoughts, and we all are constantly lied to by the enemy to not be worth anything and to seek death over suffering or being a bother. The funny thing is, when I am in prayer, when I truly read and look deep into Your word, I realize and can grasp that You love me, You walk with me, You understand me, and You want me to live as full a life as possible. You give us hope, help us grow in faith. You give us discernment to seek help, real help that will help us fight against depression, worthlessness, anger, helplessness, and burdens that seem too great for us. Holy Spirit, help me to seek You, trust You, and learn to be humble enough to seek help when and as I need it. Help all those I come in contact with to know and trust You, and that as a church family, we will learn to truly bear one another’s burdens without judgment. We should be like Christ when they brought the woman caught in adultery and threw her in front of him to judge. Help us to be the person of hope so that we can have hope. Leave the judging to the Father, who knows way more than we do. Help me to grow in wisdom so I can understand and use my
knowledge to take captive the thoughts that want to cause my destruction or shame me when my sins are covered by the blood of Christ. I am forgiven, not perfect, not better, just forgiven, but that gives me the privilege to know I am a child of the King and I am His and He loves me more than anyone I know. I will always strive for perfection, but this side of eternity, I will never achieve it, but the striving is what keeps me getting up each day, putting my pants on, and facing the world. I live in a world that is chaotic, sinful, evil at times, and full of mistrust and hatred. Yet I am loved, I have boldness through Christ, which strengthens me, I am desired, and I am uniquely made with a purpose that God placed only within me.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Holy Spirit, help us to bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances we may have against one another. Teach us to forgive as the Lord forgave us. And over all these virtues help us to put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the
peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since as members of one body we are called to peace. Let us be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. And whatever we do, whether in word or deed, help us to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. [Colossians 3:12-17] Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 5:6-11