Prayers For Family, Friends & Carers
PRAYER FOR THIS ONE I LOVE
Oh Holy God, what is happening to this one I love?
Where I saw joy and gladness now I only see deep sorrow and pain.
How can there be so much despair and sadness in this one I love?
Take it away – take it away now.
If this illness has to be somewhere, give it to me.
I can’t stand watching this one I love struggling so hard with life.
Have I failed?
How can I fix this?
Can I love more can I do more?
Lord, don’t leave us alone in this awful place.
Author unknown
“Accepting that we have a mental illness is a long journey, because it is often part of the illness to deny that we are ill. As part of ongoing prayer for your friend, you might pray for insight into the illness.
Pray also that the stigma attached to mental illness might be replaced by understanding. Realize that mental illness distorts thinking. People with schizophrenia may hear voices shouting that they are bad people and deserve to die. People with depression may be unable to stop thinking they are worthless and unloved.
A friend in crisis called me saying she had urges to hurt herself because she was such a bad person. I reminded her of the times she had been a good friend to me and tried to help her perceive reality in a more accurate and kind way. Distorted thinking may tell us God hates us or has abandoned us. Reassure your friend often that she is a beloved child of God.
Depression and Me. For me, depression was not so much about being without faith or hope or love; it was, rather, not being able to remember knowing those things, not being able to imagine ever experiencing them again.”
Read more from Margalea Warner - “Sharing the Journey as a Faithful Friend: Walking alongside a friend with mental illness”
…”Many of us wet a pillow or handkerchief with tears of sadness, confusion, and grief because a loved one suffers with a serious mental illness. Right now, we want an answer to “Why?” Right now, we want the answer to “How can this brain disorder be healed?” We may never get those answers until we enter eternity.
Today that answer comes knowing when I cry because my loved one is suffering in his mental illness, God hears. He is not deaf to my weeping and wailing. We can rest in the assurance, God will answer.
Do you cry today for a loved one? Do you feel your weeping is lost in the world’s noise? Go ahead, cry some more. God does hear you.
Thank you, Lord, for turning your ear to us, hearing us, and answering us.”
Susan K. Stewart, from ’God Hears, God Answers’ at Practical Inspirations
PRAYERS FOR LOVED ONES OF THE MENTALLY ILL.
An episode of mental illness can transform a loved one into a stranger. For the Christian family and friends who grieve the changes in their loved one, this prayer asks God for strength and hope:
‘God of healing grace, be with those who love [insert name of individual struggling with mental illness]. Let us trust not in the confusion and fear surrounding [insert individual with psychiatric disorder]‘s condition, but in Your power and might to return our loved one to us. Remind us of Your love. Help us support [insert individual with mental illness]‘s recovery with patience and compassion. In Your loving and precious name, Amen.’
PRAYER FOR LOVED ONES OF AN ANXIOUS PERSON
Listening to an anxious person share his or her fears can be tough on a significant other, family member, or friend. The following prayer asks God to renew and strengthen those who support the anxious person:
‘God, grant me strength to be patient with [insert anxious person’s name]. Fill me with compassion, but let me walk away when I need a break. Please heal [insert anxious person’s name] in body, spirit, and mind, that he/she may live more and worry less. Amen.’
PRAYER FOR LOVED ONES OF A DEPRESSED PERSON
Depression can turn a loved one into an empty, hurting person. Supporting a loved one with depression is necessary for that individual’s well being, but hard on everyone who loves him or her. The following prayer asks God to comfort the loved ones of a depressed person:
‘God of love, as You were there with Jesus’ family at the cross, be with [insert depressed individual’s name] and his/her family in the darkness of depression. Hold all who love [insert individual struggling with depression] in Your arms. Let them trust that [insert depressed person] is in Your care, and bring strength, hope, and comfort to all who wait with [insert depressed person’s name] for relief. Amen.’
Shared by Melissa Roberts, in ‘Prayers for Mental Illness: Christian Prayer Ideas for Psychiatric Disorders’ at Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/content/prayers-for-mental-illness-a180153#ixzz1H7rTY000 (Accessed April 2012)
Beatitudes for Caregivers
Blessed are those who care and who are not afraid to show it — they will let people know they are loved.
Blessed are those who are gentle and patient — they will help people to grow as the sun helps the buds to open and blossom.
Blessed are those who have the ability to listen — they will lighten many a burden.
Blessed are those who know how and when to let go — they will have the joy of seeing people find themselves.
Blessed are those who, when nothing can be done or said, do not walk away, but remain to provide a comforting and supportive presence — they will help the sufferer to bear the unbearable.
Blessed are those who recognize their own need to receive, and who receive with graciousness — they will be able to give all the better.
Blessed are those who give without hope of return — they will give people an experience of God.
Author unknown. (As seen on https://www.presbyterianmission.org/wp-content/uploads/caregiversunday10.pdf )
…”As friends at church overcame stigma and began to exercise compassionate ministry to our family, they would ask what they could do to help. I would ask them to pray and they would respond, “How?” In coming up with an answer for them I thought of the very practical, day-to-day needs we have that they would not be aware of, and made a list of 31 kinds of things that families dealing with mental illnesses look to God to provide. Many of these topics are about the hidden challenges few friends would think to pray for.
For example, when a loved one has a difficult episode a caregiver may need to take time off from work. So we pray employers would be understanding and supportive. There can, sometimes, be entanglements with the legal system. So we pray for wisdom and resources to hire competent attorneys and for merciful judges. In addition, we always pray for healing and for sustaining faith.”
~ Catherine P. Downing, in “Interview: How to pray for families affected by mental illness” , with PrayerMate.
SEE the 31 prayer points in the “Sparks of Redemptive Grace” prayer guide
