Prayer when your spiritual health is struggling
By Vivian Bricker
Bible Reading:
“But we belong not to those who have been reduced and destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” – Hebrews 10:39
Read or listen to the following:
Days passed and no one answered. The receipts read were lit, so each one was looking at the message, but no one was replying. They each left me a reading and didn’t mind enough to answer or provide support. If Christians were kind enough to help me on my darkest day, I began to question Christianity because there was no God. This made me turn a downward spiral where I slowly began to distance myself from others and God.
In fact, I was not mad at God. I was angry with what I meant to be friends. They insisted that they were his followers, so they questioned God’s goodness, but they couldn’t even reply to a simple message. Over time, I slowly stopped talking to these individuals. It helped me to see that they really didn’t want to be my friend, and they would certainly be out of their way to help me while I was recovering.
As I was recovering, I discovered that my greatest help was God and my sister. God helped me to see myself while I was looking at me. There’s no need to seek unrealistic standards or listen to forcedness in your head. Instead, I can sit at the feet of the Lord and rest in His love. Of course, I have days of struggle, but I can manage things better for God. My sister also supports me in many ways and has greatly supported my recovery process.
When reflecting, I know that I don’t need to control my mental health to others. Rather than associating Jesus with the people of the Church, we need to associate him with ourselves. Christians are Jesus’ followers, but they are not him. There is no need to trust Jesus or question him when Christians hurt us. This is difficult, but we don’t need to look at the Lord negatively, as those who insisted on following him were mean to us. Instead, we need to separate Jesus from our followers and focus on him, not people from churches, Christian universities, or Christian organizations.
Faith in Jesus, not in people
Hebrews 10:39 states, “But we do not belong to those who have reduced and destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” As the Hebrew writers tell us, we do not belong to those who have retreated and destroyed. Instead, we belong to people who have faith and are saved. When someone does something that makes us question God, we need to look at him in prayer and weigh what they did to the Bible.
Christians can do many terrible things, but we cannot associate their sinful behavior with the Lord. We must continue to believe in him. Because we have faith in him. Salvation comes from placing faith in Jesus, not in Christians. Whenever I begin to doubt Christ, Christianity, or salvation, I go to the Bible, look to Jesus in my prayer, remember His goodness. By doing this, we can help our mental health get back on track and get stronger.
Let’s pray:
Dear Jesus, help my mental health grow, not struggle. I have recently gone through a period of struggle with my mental health, but I have chosen to hand over the issue to you. I no longer allow other Christians’ actions to define you. I choose to define you by you. Also, rather than trying to find faith in others, we ask that you help others find you. You are the answer we all need and I praise you. Never forget this truth and help us continue to grow within you. I know you can do everything. Thank you for always being with me. Amen.
Photo credit: ©Patrick Schneider/Unsplash
Vivian Bricker received his Bachelor of Mission and a Master of Arts with a focus on theology. She loves theology, mission work, and everything that helps others learn about Jesus. Find out more about her content on Cultivate: https://cultivatechristianity.wordpress.com/.
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