Have you ever found yourself up one moment and down the next in your emotions? You are depressed enough to feel like you can’t take another step one day. Then, the next you are on a high like you’ve never experienced before. The way down from that high goes way too fast. Then, you are in despair as you wonder if you’ll ever make the climb up again.
It is not hard to find suggestions, coping methods, avoidance techniques, and helps to deal with emotional rollercoasters on the World Wide Web. The fact is we all have tottering emotions. Some people’s emotions may not be as extreme. The spectrum of emotions doesn’t fluctuate as often with some individuals as with others.
So how can we pray when our emotions are like a rollercoaster, up one moment and down the next?
Psalm 139 provides the proper prayer for those in relationship with God. Those who are in relationship with God through the death, burial, and resurrection power of God are given guidance how to pray. (See “What Must I Do To Be Saved?” to learn more about being in right relationship with God.)
State What God Has Done
- God has looked for you, found you, and put His Spirit within you.
- God knows when you are down in depression and when your mind/spirit is elated.
- God understands the “why” you are like you are and where you are emotionally at the moment.
- God has inspected the path you are on . . . where you are physically and emotionally.
- God knows what you are thinking without you even saying a word, or before you even speak.
State What You Experience About God
- You believe God has surrounded you with His loving presence and His strong hand of protection and guidance.
- You know God is with you and that baffles your comprehension that the God of the universe would be concerned about you. You know that He is always with you. He will never leave you.
- You understand that if you feel depressed or elated, God is there with you in the moment.
- You acknowledge God is guiding you despite how you feel.
- You recognize God has you in the palm of His hand, protecting you.
Proclaim God’s Promised Provision
- Though you feel completely in the dark, God sees you and nothing can hide you from His loving presence and guidance.
- Before you were born, God intricately constructed you so that He knows how He “wired” you, and what He created you to be and do.
- Praise the Lord for His careful work that makes you and others marvel.
- Acknowledge all the thoughts God thinks toward you and evaluate them as valuable, trustworthy, and true.
- God will always be with you and destroy the wickedness around you and within you.
Pray For Guidance
- Despite the ups and downs of your life, God is with you. Tell God you stand against anything that holds itself up against Him and His ways. Deny any thought place in your mind that makes you distrust His loving care and protection of you.
- Give God complete control of your life asking Him to continue to seek you, be near to you, and change your inner man to be pleasing to Him.
- Acknowledge there are ways within you that are wicked. Ask God to find those out and remove them from you.
- Request God to always lead you in the way that lasts forever.
Though your life may have a lot of ups and downs along the way, you can trust God is with you. The emotional rollercoaster of your life is real. Somedays you are in the dark. Other days you are in the bright light. Psalm 139 provides you the prayer to pray to keep you trusting in God, continually acknowledging His presence with you, and requesting His presence to guide you, allowing you to be with Him forever.
Don’t get discouraged by your ups and downs, instead look to the only lasting stability of your life. Let Him settle your heart and mind in Him despite the rollercoaster of emotions you experience.
Indeed — He is with you and will never leave you or forsake you. Put your complete trust on His firm foundation today. He’s got you!
Written By: Anne Gurley
