It hardly feels necessary to explain why the topic of mental health is the one we have chosen to pray for this month. The endless roller coaster of 2020 has us all beat. 

For some, like me, this has been an intense season of working to exhaustion, of disappointments and disruption. I cry a lot. I don’t sleep well. I occasionally yell ridiculous things at my children. I feel fear and anxiety constantly on the fringe of my consciousness.

For my friends who are single or empty nesters, it’s been a long six months of isolation and loneliness. 

I also know people who have become afraid to even step outside their houses, to touch anything, to interact with others, to go back to work… What started as healthy caution is now crippling them from finding any kind of normalcy.

My husband is a school principal. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to tell you what it’s been like for him. The school staff are considering starting a betting pool as to whether he’ll have a heart attack, a stroke, or a nervous breakdown. (For the record, we’re leaning on God and hoping it will be none of the above.)

And in reality we don’t have it so bad. The people of Lebanon are wondering if they are about to go to war. Others, in too many countries to list, are hungry with no social welfare systems to help. And refugees in Greece just lost everything in a fire. Christians in most countries are only now slowly going back to meeting, and they didn’t have online church to attend. Many have fallen away from the faith, and pastors are discouraged and desperate after months without an income.

And yet, God has not forgotten or abandoned them…or us. He is still in control, still good, still mighty to save us. The Bible is brimming with reassurances of His faithfulness. He commands us to bring all our fears, anxieties, sorrow, disappointment, and desires to Him. In exchange, He can give us peace, joy, hope, strength, and wisdom.

Will you join us in praying this month for all those whose mental health has suffered in this pandemic? Praying through Psalm 34 is a great place to start. We’ve also put together prayer points in our monthly prayer mailing to help guide your intercession.