I'm continuing the series on praying for those that we love and care about who have some mental health issue, some disorder that maybe we don't even understand. Today, I want to focus on post-traumatic stress disorder.
What Is PTSD?
I've heard some wise biblical scholars get this wrong, saying things like, 'Oh, it's just grief,' or something like that. It's hard for people to understand. Let me read you a verse, and this is from Philippians 3, 13, and 14:
“I don't mean to say that I've already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection, but I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me for getting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us.”
Now, it says so clearly we need to forget the past and look forward, but a person who's been traumatized, and that could be certainly someone with a military experience of war, but also people that have been abused and have been mistreated, abandoned, have the same kind of symptoms. And they can't forget the past until it's treated and resolved. Sometimes, we see a person have flashbacks or nightmares of that traumatic experience. They get triggered, and it becomes so vivid to them that they can't do anything but just shut down because some sound or sight has put them right back into the back where they were before.
Sometimes, you see the person avoiding anything that might remind them of that experience. So, they may never want to be alone with a man or woman, even in the worst situations. And then maybe they feel so numb that they don't want to experience any emotion like love, care, or joy. They don't care about other people because they can't. They're so obsessed with trying to survive themselves. And then there's the other thing: some loud noise or some startling situation might invoke them into a state of panic or totally shut down.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a struggle. And if a person has it, oh, they're tormented. Day and night. There's treatment available for this.
It doesn't just go away. You know, we'd love for us to be able to say in Psalm 55, 22, give your burdens to the Lord, and he'll take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Well, that's a verse for you who cares about someone, but it's a verse for them. And when we are stuck, we're in this stage of despair. It's hard for us to do what scripture so plainly tells us to do.
So we want to pray that maybe we discover the treatment that's available so we can share that with the person so that they don't feel like they're all alone or they're hopeless because there's no help available. To that end, I want to say a prayer for them. And maybe you would say this prayer for them so that their struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder wouldn't be something that would have to last a lifetime.
A Prayer for Those Suffering from PTSD
Dear Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead me to be a source of comfort and a source of resources. Show me what could help this person, God, and help me lead them to that resource. Lord, help me inspire them not to give up on themselves and to find hope that could heal this horrible disorder. God, I pray that if it's in your will, you will instantly heal them or transform them over time as you transform me. Lord, help me always be there for them. Help me see that this is about something horrible that happened and not about me. If they mistreat me, Lord, you are all-powerful. You can do anything. I ask you to be the source of power and strength for this person I love. And Lord, you died so that nothing in our past would have to haunt us in the future.
Lord, I pray that each person struggling in this area would find you as a savior and then find that thing that prevents them from living the life of redemption and healing. Lord, if it is in your will, let me be the one to guide them to the light, guide them to your light and your truth that will sustain them as you sustain me and sustain them. I ask all of these things, Lord, in your name. Amen. I hope that prayer helps.
For additional resources, call us at New Life at 1-800-NEW-LIFE. God bless you.
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