Okay, we are at Day # 2 of our series, “Perfecting a Stayed Mind”, where we are discussing that verse in Isaiah 26:3. If you missed the Introduction and Session One, find it here.
I hope you are ready to get started! At the end of the week, there will be a pdf download available for you of all the sessions combined.
SESSION TWO
In this series, we are discussing Isaiah 26:3 in relation to our mental health. Let’s go ahead and review that verse.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Today we will be touching on something that as a Christian should be part of our daily lives. It’s something that can definitely help us with our thinking and with our mental state. That wonderful thing is prayer. Prayer can do so much for us, especially where improving our thinking and where our minds are concerned.
We will be calling our attention to four things that prayer can do to help lift our spirits and lift our mental state.
PRAYER GIVES US OUR OWN POWER
PRAYER GIVES US AN ENERGY BOOST
PRAYER GIVES US FOCUS
PRAYER GIVES US A RELEASE FOR OUR EMOTIONS
Prayer Gives us our own Power
There are so many places on earth where we just don’t have the power to do something.
Maybe it’s at work and you don’t have the rank or position to make the choices that you would like, and it’s left up to someone else. Or maybe you want change to the world politically, but that’s ultimately in the hands of the powers that be that govern us. You can work at it and voice your opinion, vote, and all those things, but in reality, it takes a lot of cogs in the wheel and a lot of people to make changes in government and laws. Maybe you wish you had the power to make other people do the right thing in certain situations. Or maybe you just may long for certain things in your life to be just a little bit different. Maybe you long for things to be just a tad bit easier on yourself. You know, you want those simple things that matter to just you and to you alone.
Sometimes you just feel powerless.
But look at prayer! It’s where we have the power on our own to see that changes get made. We can go boldly to that Throne of Grace. Sometimes we get so caught up in our heads and think that we can’t do anything or change anything. But in reality, we really have the power to control some things with prayer. We can ask for help from Somebody bigger than ourselves.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Of course, our prayers may not be answered in the way we would like, but God wants us to ask. God wants us to tell Him our needs, wants, and feelings.
Prayer is a connection with God and all you have to do is plug into it. Prayer is something each Christian can wield themselves. Prayer is just sitting there for us to pick up and use.
It’s just like in life and you want power, you must grab onto it. You have to put yourself out there. You have to work at it. You have to forget about what happened in the past. You have to realize your own potential. And wow! When you realize the potential that prayer can have in your life, you can be empowered in a big way. Because look whose power is being utilized by prayer. It’s not ours. It’s God’s power. God’s power is what is tapped into with prayer.
That connection with God when we pray will help us maintain those stayed minds. So, when you aren’t thinking straight, use your prayer power!
Prayer Gives us an Energy Boost
Move over energy drinks, coffee, and adrenaline producing sports drinks! Prayer can give us a great boost in our mindset. One reason is because when we pray (if we come at it humbly), we can’t help but start praising God. Praise is a big part of our prayer life as Christians, and praise does something for us.
If prayer was a product, then praise would be right at the top of the ingredient list. Just like we may read the amount of caffeine in something, rest assured that the more praise we have in our prayer the more it will do something to us. Our bodies will react to it. It will spur us on. It will give us a boost in our mental focus. And it’s not harmful like caffeine either!
And next, prayer gives us that energy boost because when we leave prayer time, we leave our burdens there. Or at least we should. God will carry the load for us. When we leave prayer, we are lighter. What a relief when the weight of burdens falls off of our shoulders. They stop weighing our minds down and it helps us focus in the right way.
Another thing about prayer is Who we spend time with there. Prayer is that time that we commune with God. Just being in His presence in prayer can do so much for us in how we feel.
I’m sure you realize that when you spend time with someone who is negative that they can push those negative feelings off onto you. And when you spend time with positive people, you can feed off their positive energy. So, spending time with the God of the Universe, think how that can affect you in such a positive way!
There are times that I just feel weak mentally and physically, but somehow prayer can turn that around.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isaiah 40:2
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psalm 73:26
Prayer Gives us Focus
One of the best things about prayer is that it helps align our thoughts and helps us focus. You may already know that doing little quizzes and mind games will keep your mind sharp. There are even things that we can eat like blueberries, walnuts, and even fish that help us with our brainpower.
Prayer is like that. It gives us brainpower as it were. It helps us stay mentally active spiritually.
I think about visualization and how they say that helps your mind and brain. What’s better than prayer to visualize? Right? Makes me think of that verse about faith.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Prayer can help us visualize our faith and that keeps us active and sharp in our minds as Christians. It comes back to that asking and believing.
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:22
Any type of exercise can help your mental health as well as your physical health. That’s pretty much common knowledge. Exercise can help you decrease your stress. It’s basically a mood booster. But it also helps strengthen your memory and aids in learning in your brain. It can even help you with mental alertness.
When we exercise our brain and our body in general, it improves our mental health, and exercising our prayer life keeps us on point spiritually. It gives us focus.
And prayer not only helps us think a little more clearly and focus better mentally, but it also helps us focus on others and their needs as we bring them before the Lord. It helps us focus on God more because of the praise aspect of prayer. And it also helps us focus on the Holy Spirit’s leading as we pray for guidance.
Prayer will do wonders for your brainpower!
Prayer Gives us a Release for our Emotions
Taking care of our emotions is a big part of mental care. And what’s better than expressing our emotions than through prayer. God wants us to share all of our emotions with Him. Whether we are feeling happy, feeling sad, feeling blessed, feeling depressed, feeling elated, feeling frustrated. The emotions we humans go through can range all through the highs and lows of life. The list of emotions is endless.
One thing that has helped me from time to time is to journal my feelings. I suggest you get a journal just for jotting down your feelings and emotions throughout the day. For me it helps to just write out what I’m feeling. There is something to the exercise of that whole thing. But also, I can use that during my prayer time and tell the Lord exactly how I’ve been feeling. All those highs and lows of my emotions are what I can take with me to my prayer time. I don’t do this all the time but when I start feeling really anxious and I can feel myself slipping into that chaotic brain of mine, then journaling about my emotions helps me. Try it at least once. It might help you sort out your thoughts.
A special thing about prayer too is that it answers all of the following questions for us when we are afraid to share our emotions.
- Who do I talk to?
- Who will listen to me?
- Who will keep what I say in confidence?
- Who will care what I say?
- Who will care if I cry?
- Who will care if I go on and on about a subject?
- Who understands how I really feel?
- Who will hear my complaints and not dismiss them?
- Who knows all the other things going on around me in my life?
- Who knows how I am suffering?
- Who knows what makes me happy?
- Who will take my burdens and carry them for me?
I think about Hannah in the Bible when she prayed for a child. She laid everything out on the table. 1 Samuel says that she poured out her soul before the Lord.
…I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 1 Samuel 1:15
And then there is David. He knew who to turn to when he was overwhelmed.
From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2
That’s one of the things that I love most about prayer. It’s that God understands our emotions. Like Hannah, we can pour out our souls to Him. Like David, we can go running to the Lord when our minds and hearts are overwhelmed. I know for myself, when my emotions are running rapidly and stirring up my brain, prayer is a wonderful place to sit and relax for a while.
In prayer, we can tell the Lord all about our day and about all what is going on in our lives. When we do that, it helps us think clearer and will have an effect on us mentally and emotionally.
Think about all those emotions we go through on a daily basis. We experience happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, hurt, grief, and many more. We all need to release those pent-up emotions, or they will build up till we burst.
Prayer is that safe place where we can leave those emotions.
Final Thoughts
I know there are so many other things that prayer does for us, but I wanted to concentrate on these four because I think when it comes to our mental health, these four things crop to the surface.
We may feel powerless against the world and all it has to offer us. We may feel drained, depressed, and weary, so we need that energy boost from prayer. And then we may feel so out of focus and that we can’t concentrate on anything or anybody when we are troubled in our mind. And if we never let go of our emotions, they can be the source for anger, unrest, and even depression. We have to share all those things with God through prayer.
I hope discussing these things will help motivate you to grab hold of prayer like it’s that lifeline that it is. It can do so much for us when we stick at it and use it daily. Think of prayer as a powerful tool in your toolbox or a powerful weapon in your arsenal. It’s all about keeping our mind fixed on Christ, and prayer is a wonderful way to do that.
Prayer is a great and powerful resource for a Christian.
So, are you clinging to prayer?
Perfecting a Stayed Mind Series
Introduction & Session One
Session Two
Session Three
Session Four
Summary
I appreciate you stopping in for this second day of the series. I trust it is a blessing to you.
Miss yesterdays?
Introduction & Session One
Just a heads up–I do have quite a few resources here on the blog on prayer. I have whole devotional series on prayer, “Loving to Talk to God”, and also some other helpful downloads. Find them at the link.
Prayer Resources
Feel free to leave a comment on this topic over on my Julia Bettencourt Ramblings Facebook Page.
Have a lovely day!
Julia
Remember, if you are being overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts, please talk to a trained health care professional.
