July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and I always like to touch on this because I fought over a decades long battle with depression. I’m in a much healthier place now. It took some time but I used a combination of strategies, resources and guidance outside of prayer to get here. I share because I want to help remove the stigma related to mental health and mental illness.
He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].
Psalm 147:3 Amplified Bible (AMP)
It’s hard to pray when you can’t even think straight. Get past a moment. Or even come to a decision on something simple such as what to eat for the day. When things are running through your mind, it’s best to get help on how to manage the thoughts so the thoughts don’t overrun your life. Believe it or not prayer doesn’t work for everyone in their mind because their mind isn’t clear enough to hear from God. So, let’s do some other things to clear one’s mind so when you do pray you know you’re hearing from God.
Here’s 5 Alternatives to Praying:
1 Journaling is something I have done since middle school. I find solace in writing out my thoughts, pain, hurts, happiness, excitement, dreams and so much more. It’s a safe place for me to share without receiving any type of feedback that I don’t want or need to hear. For the longest I used to rage journal. That’s where I would hate write. Just write everything I hated in my life, that was happening, I wish would happen. Yes, it helped to get it out of my system but I didn’t put anything healthy in to replace those thoughts. So I stayed in that cycle for far too long. When you journal, you want to write everything but always put some type of solution you want to work towards concerning any problem. Just putting it in writing will help the solution feel more real. Years ago I had a business where I taught journaling. (Now it’s up for sale.) But here’s the one thing people took away from the journaling philosophy I hold onto; put it on paper, leave it there then recycle the book. There’s no reason to reread anything that’ll take you back to a place you are working to get out of.
2 Hour of Quiet Time is something I started during our stay at home. It has been glorious. It forces you to rest your mind, body and slow down. I shut everything down. I don’t journal, pray, scroll social media, check email, move around, I don’t do anything. I just sit in complete silence for one hour. I put a timer on so I can get back to doing whatever I was doing when I paused. It’s around the same time each day. That just works best for me. I also do it when I would be the busiest. Why? It makes me pause so I’m not overworking myself. What I’ve found during this time is that my body feels more at ease, my mind is calmer and I’m not as agitated working. I get all these blog posts and ideas just coming to me. I usually look out the window and stare at the trees or sky outside. Not forcing an idea or anything. Just being. And that’s not something most of us are used to doing. Just being still and quiet.
3 Walk in Nature is not a favorite of mine but it’s something that our bodies need. Where our bodies go our minds are to follow. Or something like that, right? Our bodies need vitamin D and the sun does that. Fresh air fills our lungs. That’s like a shot of reprieve. With the world closing down, walking in nature allows us to breath fresh air, get sunlight, not focus on our thoughts and allow exhaustion to enter. This is important. When we are exhausted, we start to operate differently. It forces us to find more efficient and effective ways to do things so we don’t get exhausted again. In other words, sharpens our minds.
4 Napping is an all-time FAV throwback that I still do to this day. I will fall asleep with a quickness. To take a nap allows your body to rejuvenate, heal, rest and relax. There are so many health benefits to napping that we don’t take seriously. I read a study in undergrad about the health benefits of napping and have kept them as part of my health journey over 15 years. For those who hate to exercise or even take a walk in nature then napping is a health alternative you need to look into. It slows you down like the hour of quiet time. It allows your body to not overexert itself. And your body has time to heal. If you’re not eating healthy, overstressed, don’t workout or do anything that will help your body, napping allows your body to heal itself if it gets enough time to do so.
5 Therapy or a spiritual life coach are something that you will need to really look into if you are battling thoughts that seem stronger than you currently are. This is the only option that will cost you money. The other options are just your time. But if you are not able to truly work on yourself by yourself then you need an unbiased outside expert to help you delve into what’s running through your mind. They will give you resources and a toolkit that you will be able to use again and again. That’s important. You need to be able to still function after your time with them is over. I worked with Denika Carothers as my spiritual life coach. Let’s just say she helped me revive myself so I can be here today showing how God has transformed my inner life in just a couple of years.
These are 5 alternatives to praying that I have used to help me be able to enjoy a healthy and strong prayer life now. When you have a clear mind you are more prone to be able to pray with purpose and not out of anger, spite, or whatever reason you think God should magically do for you because you’re in need. Even with my prayer life as it is now, I still use these alternatives in one way or another daily to continue to keep my mind clear so when God speaks to me, I clearly am able to listen.
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