Firstly, I want to thank you for visiting our website and seeking to know ways that may alleviate the pain that comes with depression, anxiety, and all the related mental health implications. Whether it’s for you or for someone you know, I want you to know that I understand that there are many other verified methods that are available for you that could help. However, I am neither a phycologist nor am I doctor so I am going to give you information on what has worked for people in my family of faith and what the Bible has offered for us to do whenever we find ourselves struggling to recover from the quagmire of mental illness.

It’s important you understand that from the beginning, you are not alone. Whatever you are going through, many of your brethren in the world have and are dealing with the same struggle and have overcome. The hopelessness and despair that you are feeling right now doesn’t represent all that God has to offer; there is a whole world outside of the cloudy feelings you are experiencing right now, and it is within you, if you are willing to reach out and receive.

Here is what the God says:

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (Corinthians10 13-15)

You may have been medically diagnosed and are currently on medication and the finality of the prognosis is that what you are experiencing is expected and cannot be cured or alleviated hence, it will be part of your daily experience henceforth. All that considered, you my friend are not an accident nor are you here to struggle along in life trying to make sense of it all. You have been created and fashioned by a God who loves you and Who has a wonderful plan for your life (see Psalms 139).

Many years ago, I, was in your shoes, going from hospital to hospital, and from one medical trial to another. At the end, I was taking 39 pills a day. I am thankful for the doctors and appreciate the work they do; they, however, were unable to help me. The prognosis was that I wasn’t going to make it through high school alive and if by a miracle I did, I would be impaired and probably mentally challenged. Despair, hopelessness, and the feeling of being a burden to the people around me set in.  Probably just like you, I thought it would be better for my parents and for my siblings if I go on to wherever people go when they die. In that quagmire of defeat, a song about a God who heals, coming from the neighborhood kids who were playing church outside brought me hope and strength to reach out to my Creator for a miracle.

I write to you today because I know that if He was able to not only heal me 23 years ago and keep me healed all these years, He will do the same for you for He is not a respecter of persons, but in every tribe and every nation He who comes to Him He will by no means turn him away.

Consider this passage in Isaiah 61

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

The blanket of hopelessness and despair that you often feel during spouts of depression and anxiety, the Bible calls it a spirit of heaviness. As you allow the Holy Spirit to come upon you now and remove the spirit of heaviness, He will replace it with a spirit of expressive praise that is rooted in the hope we have in Him.  He knows the end from the beginning and is fashioning your steps daily towards fulfilling the purpose He has put in you.

God is listening now, just ask Him

You are probably thinking; I have prayed, I am on medication, I have attended therapy, what will a simple prayer do different? In moments like you are in right now, a simple step in the opposite direction can yield a tremendous result; it is never about the big steps we take in life that yield a lasting change. A simple whisper to yourself that, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me” will yield strength on the inside to resist the trial.

This is what He says about you

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. (Psalm 34:18)

As I mentioned earlier, in my despair 23 years ago, I opened my mouth and called on God saying, “You have healed many, please heal me also’” and because He is true to His word, I am here to speak life into you today in Jesus’ name. 

Dear friend, would you pray this short prayer with me:

Heavenly Father, I come in the name of your son Jesus. I have read that You are close to those that are broken hearted and to those who are riddled with despair. Hear my cry today and heal me of all my affliction.  Give me a spirit of expressive praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. Release me from the prison of despair and open my eyes to the hope and the future you have for me. I declare it, I believe it and I receive it in Jesus’ name.

Here is a meditative Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Thank you for reading and I hope to hear from you soon; I’d like to stand with you in prayer so please reach out to us via email and we will be glad to pray with you.