Short prayer
A short prayer for depression
Lord, I cannot feel You and I cannot feel much of anything. I am still here. Hold me through this dark.Amen.
You do not have to feel this for it to count
A prayer for depression that demands a feeling will fail, because the feeling is the thing that is broken.
The Bible already knew. Psalm 13 opens with how long will you forget me. Psalm 130 starts in the depths. Elijah asked to die and God sent an angel with bread, not a pep talk. None of that is unbelief. It is the prayer book.
So the prayers on this page are small on purpose. Show up. Say you cannot feel Him. Ask to be held. That is enough for today.
This is not only a spiritual problem
Sometimes depression is a season of grief. Sometimes it is chemistry, exhaustion, a body that has run out of light. Treating it only as a faith issue is how people get sicker in church.
Pray. And see a doctor. Take the medicine if it is given. Tell a friend the true sentence, not the Christian one. God invented bread for Elijah. He is not threatened by a prescription.
If you are in immediate danger, stop reading and get help. In the US, call or text 988. Tell someone in the room. That is also a prayer: refusing to go through this alone.
The phone is a poor companion in the pit
Depression and the scroll are a bad pair. The feed offers comparison, bad news, and the sense that everyone else is living. Then you put the phone down lower than before.
If you can, put it in another room at night. If you cannot, let PrayerMax stand in the doorway so the reach becomes a short prayer instead of another hour of proof that you are failing. The short prayer is better company than the feed.
More prayers for depression
2. Short prayer
Prayer for depression when I have no words
Jesus. That is all I have. Stay.Amen.
3. Longer prayer
A longer prayer for a dark season
Father, I am tired of pretending I am fine. The colour has gone out of things. Tasks that used to be nothing are now a wall. I know, in some distant way, that You are good, and I cannot feel it, and the gap between those two facts is its own grief. I am not going to perform faith at You. I am going to sit here. The psalmists shouted from holes in the ground and You put their shouting in the Bible, so I am guessing You can handle this. Come closer than the numbness. If You will not lift it today, sit with me in it. Give me the next small thing I can do, and the grace to do only that. Keep me alive. Keep the people who love me from giving up on me, and keep me from giving up on them. I do not feel hope. I am asking for it anyway.Amen.
4. Morning
Morning prayer for depression
Lord, I woke up and it was still here. Help me get my feet on the floor. Give me enough for the next hour, not for the whole life. Your mercies are new. I cannot feel them yet. I am asking anyway.Amen.
5. Night
Night prayer for depression
Father, get me through this night. The dark outside matches the dark in me, and I do not want to be alone with it. You do not sleep. Keep watch. Let morning come, and let me still be here when it does.Amen.
6. For someone else
Prayer for someone with depression
Lord, You know the one I am praying for. The light has gone out in them and I cannot switch it back on. Be closer to them than the numbness. Give them a reason to get up, a person who stays, and the help they need — including the medical kind. And show me how to love them without trying to fix them with a verse.Amen.
7. From Scripture
Prayer for depression from the Psalms
How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever? Out of the depths I cry to You, Lord. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.Amen.
8. Longer prayer
A prayer when I cannot pray
God, other people are praying this for me today, because I cannot. Receive theirs as mine. I believe. Help my unbelief.Amen.
Scripture to pray with
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?”
Psalm 13:1-2
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Psalm 42:11
“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.”
Psalm 130:1
“The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.””
1 Kings 19:7
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
How to pray a prayer for depression
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Let the prayer be small. One line is enough. Depression steals sentences. God is not waiting for a paragraph.
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Use the Psalms when you have nothing. Psalm 13 and Psalm 130 were written for this. Reading them is praying, even if you feel nothing.
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Ask for the next hour, not the rest of your life. Elijah was told to eat and sleep. Sometimes that is the whole prayer.
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Let other people pray it for you. On the days you cannot, that is what the Church is for. Tell one person. Borrow their words.
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Get help as well as praying. Therapy, medicine, a doctor, a friend at the door. Using them is not unbelief. Elijah needed bread. So do you.
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If you are in danger, get urgent help now. In the US, call or text 988. If you can, tell a person in the room. God is not offended by a hotline.
Questions people ask
What is a good prayer for depression?
“Lord, I cannot feel You and I cannot feel much of anything. I am still here. Hold me through this dark. Amen.” That is a complete prayer for depression. The Psalms are the longer version God already wrote.
Is it a sin to be depressed?
No. David, Elijah, Job and Jeremiah all walked through it, and Jesus was “a man of sorrows.” Depression is an illness and a grief, not a moral failure. Bringing it to God is faith, even when you cannot feel faith.
What Bible verse is for depression?
Psalm 34:18, Psalm 13, Psalm 42:11, Psalm 130, and 1 Kings 19 (Elijah under the broom tree). Read Psalm 13 out loud. It is allowed to sound like a complaint. It is in the Bible because God can take it.
Can prayer cure depression?
Prayer helps, and it is not a substitute for treatment. God heals through counsel, medicine, rest, and people who stay, as surely as through a moment of peace in a prayer. Use every kind of help. That is not less spiritual. It is taking the dark seriously.
How do I pray when I feel nothing?
Show up with one line, or let someone else pray it for you. Feelings are not the ticket in. “Jesus. Stay.” is enough. The prayer above for when you cannot pray is written for that day.
