Pray First: Seek • Pray • Uniteنموونە

PRAYING OVER MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health can cover a lot of different challenges and issues. Grief, anxiety, worry, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, and the list could just keep going. They seem to be growing more common around the globe each day, with so many people struggling. We need to know that God cares and wants to bring healing. Sometimes, when we hear that God is a healer, we put it in a box of more physical issues, but Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. He invites us to cast our cares and worries on Him. In Philippians 4:6, He tells us instead of being anxious to bring it to Him that He will give us peace. 2 Timothy 1:7 He says He wants to give us a sound mind. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that the God of peace, Himself, wants to sanctify you completely and then lists the whole spirit, soul, and body. God wants us whole in every part and in every way. Isaiah 53:4 says that He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. That can be translated as grief and or sickness. It means our pain, whether it is physical or mental. Strong's Concordance lists inside its meaning anxiety. When we look at the fruit of the Spirit that God wants to bring into our lives, it lists peace and joy. Those are things that God wants to fill us regardless of our circumstances. Whether for ourselves or those around us, this is an area where we need to pray, as many are struggling. Here are some ways to pray:

• That the peace of God would fill us/them and replace the anxiety with His peace. (Phil. 4:6-7; Rom. 16:20)
• That God would comfort those whose hearts have been broken. (2 Cor. 7:6; Psalm 147:3)
• That minds that have been broken would be made whole again. (3 John 1:2; 1 Thess. 5:23; Isaiah 53:4; 2 Tim. 1:7)
• That depression would break off, and they would be filled with the joy and peace of the Lord. (Isaiah 61:3; Gal. 5:22-23)
• Pray that they would be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23)