seeking joy in the midst of sadness or depression

This is the final prayer in this prayer series.

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To begin, find a space where you can be still and focus.

Then, follow the prompts below. Personalize as you will.

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Thanksgiving: Offer thanks to God. What has He provided for you today? Thank Him for His power to make wrong things right and that He reigns in heaven and earth.

Praise: Heavenly Father, your love never ceases. You are endlessly merciful. Though the world brings sorrow, your joy comes in the morning. You are faithful and steadfast. Your kingdom is untouchable.

Reflect on Scripture: Psalm 30:8-12 (ESV); Psalm 94:17-19 (NIV); I Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)

⁸To you, O Lord, I cry,
    and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
⁹ “What profit is there in my death,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹ You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
¹² that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

¹⁷ Unless the Lord had given me help,
    I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
    your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me,
    your consolation brought me joy.

⁸ Though you have not seen [Jesus Christ], you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The Lord’s Prayer: Walk through the prompts below, offering God your responses.

Help me submit to you, Father. I pray your will be done in my life and on earth as it is in heaven.

Only you can turn my mourning into dancing. Only you can support me with unfailing love. Your help gives me life—now and eternally.

Find the place deep within me where anxious thoughts and sadness live, and console me. Nothing is beyond your understanding. You are God Almighty.

Wrap me in your gladness and give me voice to sing your praise even when trials and tribulation surround me. You are my joy.

Father, I feel sad. My heart carries sorrow about these things: _____________________________.

Help me share in your joy and trust that it will bring me strength.

Today, I have need. Please provide: _____________________________. Thank you for being a good Father who cares for his children and provides all they need.

I confess I am a sinner. Please forgive me for my sin of: _____________________________.

Please help me forgive those who have sinned against me. Lord, because you have forgiven me, help me forgive: _____________________________ for _____________________________. Thank you for the joy that springs forth in forgiveness.  

Thank you for delivering me from evil. Today, I ask you to deliver me from _____________________________ for you are _____________________________.

May you be glorified in my life today and forevermore.

Forgive me for seeking joy in the temporary delights of the world. I pray that my joy comes from the Spirit of God that lives inside of me—a divine strength to carry me through even the most trying days. As I abide in you, may I bear the fruit of true, lasting joy.

Help me count it joy when I struggle because challenges strengthen my faith. Help me persevere. I rejoice in who you are, my Good Shepherd with unimaginable power and unfailing love. Circumstances cannot steal my joy because my joy is found in you—and you never change. You are faithful and you are good.

Father, hear my prayers. You rescue. You bring hope and peace and life. I delight in you! And I will praise you joyously, for if we don’t sing your praises, the rocks will cry out instead.

Neighbor Prayer: Spend a moment praying on behalf of any neighbors God lays on your heart.

Suggested Neighbor Prayer for: the neighbors in my neighborhood

Father, I’ve gotten to know the people around me better lately. Give me eyes to see beyond myself.

Lord, I pray for my actual neighbors. I pray for those who walk by my house each day, whose houses I pass in my comings and goings. Help me see their need and ask them for help when I have need. As I seek to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, help me to also love my neighbors as myself.

For the community workers, Lord, I pray—the grocers, the teachers, the church leaders, the sanitation workers, my postal worker, the cleaning crews, the people making sacrifices to keep our community afloat. Protect their health, provide for them what they need, give them hope in you.

Help my neighborhood, my little part of the world, be a community that loves each other well, dignifies one another, and is willing to sacrifice for one another.

Help me show the love of Christ to every person I encounter today. Give me the courage to be the first one to reach out in love and in joy.

Say special prayers for the neighbors in your life who are not saved that Jesus would reveal Himself to them and save them.

“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!…then all the people said, ‘Amen!’ and praised the Lord.”   (I Chronicles 16:31-34, 36b, ESV)

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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If you have joined me in this prayer journey, thank you. I am humbled and thankful to have prayed together with you in Spirit if not in person.

If you would like to continue to worship in song, here is Audrey Assad’s How Can I Keep From Singing. “Since Christ is Lord of heav’n and earth, how can I keep from singing?”