Depression Will Flee When You Pray Without Ceasing!

by Toni Star

It was in 1985 when my husband and I were stationed in Germany, that I suffered one of the worst cases of depression, ever!  It was our first military overseas tour of duty, and my husband, a master sergeant in the Army National Guard, soon found himself overwhelmed with job and employee responsibilities, while I served as landlord in our military housing, helping other military families cope.  Two years came and went and then Desert Storm kicked in. Roy was requested by his colonel to work longer hours and weekends, to help support and maintain military operations in our area.  Many nights he had to stay over to assist in high-priority military maneuvers.  This left me alone, lonely and with housing responsibilities.

Those long hours of separation from my husband soon caught up with me and depression soon turned into despair.  I was worried about him and the horrible conditions Desert Storm presented to everyone.  Like other women there, I didn’t think I would get through it; it was just too much!  What made the situation harder for me and my husband was that we were the only childless couple in the building.  Granted, some of those feelings of aloneness and oddity, we brought on ourselves; the rest was due to indifference and prejudice.

I knew that I had to do something; I was feeling so low.  So, I began to pray, at first the usual Bible chapter a day and prayer in the morning but soon found that it wasn’t enough.  Days later, I began praying longer in the morning, after lunch and at night before I going to bed.  A desire was building inside of me to know as much as possible about Christ-- his life, death, resurrection and promise of return. It didn’t take long, about four or five days later, before I began feeling better, less depressed and more optimistic.

As the weather changed, leaves fell, temperatures became more frigid and Christmas edging closer, I decided to take a leap of faith with my not- so friendly, military neighbors.  For months they had shown little signs of neighborliness but what the heck, I thought.  Why not take a chance?  I had nothing to lose.

I got busy and made seven apple pies, bought and wrapped gifts for their children and delivered them to each family.  I was surprised but happy with their kind response of my gifts.  Afterwards, many who had shown little neighborliness, thanked me and said how much they enjoyed the pies and gifts and wanted to know more about my husband and me.  Finally, an open invitation to neighborliness! 

While all of this was going on, I continued to pray and read the Bible.  I sought and found a piece of scripture I remembered from First Thessalonians 5:17 where Paul advocates: “Pray without ceasing…” I decided to put Paul’s advice into action and for the first time in my life, I did “pray without ceasing.”  The comfort and help I received from praying, helped sustain me when I reached out to others in pain.  It wasn’t long before I realized I was no longer depressed.  Depressions no longer had a home or hold on me, for I was too busy praying and helping others. 

Some cases of depression can be relieved through acts of kindness, prayer and reading of the Bible; however, some types of depression run so deep that a professional should be consulted.  Should deep depression enter your life or the life of someone you know and love, seek professional help but keep praying and reading your Bible!