Keeping a healthy mind and spirit is very beneficial in life. Click here to learn about whether praying helps improve your mental health.
When you hear the word “health” the first thoughts that come to mind might be about eating good foods or working out on a regular basis.
While having these aspects of health is good, physical health isn’t everything. Mental health is just as important, as it influences the choices we make and how we respond to life’s challenges.
And naturally, all of us would love to stay in the best mental shape possible. But how do we do it? Does praying help?
Keep reading to learn more about prayer and its effect on our mental health!
What is Prayer?
Prayer is the way in which we communicate to the God who created us and everything around us.
During prayer, we give thanks for the blessings we have and ask for strength to overcome the trials of life. We also have the opportunity to pray for others.
How Prayer Affects Our Inner Peace
When we pray, we are able to set aside the day’s fears and worries because we have confidence that the one whom we are praying to will help us.
This doesn’t mean we won’t ever be afraid at all. However, people who pray can also know that they are not alone in their fears.
According to statistics, people who pray on a daily basis feel at peace more often than those who rarely or never prayed.
Knowing that someone is always going to be for us, regardless of if anyone else is, brings us comfort and can help us face life’s challenges with greater courage and more inner peace.
How Prayer Affects Our Relationships
By making time to pray on a regular basis, we can set good habits for our relationships.
For example, if you regard the one whom you are praying to as important in your life and then set aside time for prayer consistently, then you would also be more likely pick up a similar habit of making time for the people you care about in your life, even when you’re busy.
When we pray for one another, we’re showing the people in our lives that we love them and care about them enough to consider them in our thoughts.
Prayer also helps us to be more forgiving, which is one of the most important benefits of praying for others, especially considering the fact that we all make mistakes.
How Prayer Affects Our Attitude Towards Life
All of us are striving for a goal in life, whether we think about it or not. All of us have hopes and dreams.
Praying helps us find ourselves and stay focused on what matters most to us. It gives us greater confidence when facing the unknown.
And, as mentioned earlier in this article, it can increase our inner peace and strengthen our relationships with one another.
Altogether, these benefits of praying can make a positive impact on our overall attitude towards life and its challenges.
Common Misconceptions About Prayer
Prayer is a significant aspect of the world we live in. And just like nearly all big topics, there are some common misconceptions about prayer for health.
But don’t worry! Here are some points to help clear things up.
Prayer doesn’t mean everything will happen our way and in our timing. This doesn’t mean that prayer is ineffective, rather it’s just the opposite. Not everything we pray for is good for us at the time and sometimes our creator has better plans than we could come up with ourselves.
Be patient during times when God says “no” and “wait” to your prayers. Yes, this is much easier said than done.
However, when we pray, we need to be confident that the one whom we are praying to wants the best for us, even if we can’t see it yet.
Prayer is not an excuse to do nothing. Sometimes prayer for health is seen as a reason to not pursue the conventional treatments we need. However, our creator allowed those resources to exist for a purpose.
You wouldn’t sign up for a marathon, never take the time to train, and then expect to perform well, would you?
In the same way, it doesn’t make sense to say a health prayer and then do nothing to try and improve your health.
There are situations where we run out of options and a prayer is all we can do. However, when we have access to solutions, we need to work within our means and act in harmony with the prayers we speak.
We don’t have to be perfect to pray. We’ve all fallen short and made mistakes. And though each of our life stories is different, we’re all equally valuable before our creator, regardless of our shortcomings.
Never fall into the trap of believing you have to be “good enough” to pray. You are valuable. You are loved by the creator of the universe. You are worth it, not perfect.
How do I Pray?
How we pray depends on who we are praying too. As for us, we believe prayer is simple. All you have to do is ask God to be a part of your life.
You can say your prayers out loud, think them in your thoughts, keep a written prayer journal, etc. Either way, God will know it’s you.
He’s the creator of the universe, after all. He doesn’t need WiFi to connect with you.
To learn more about Christ and how He can impact your life, make sure to click the previous link to explore the free resources available on our website!
Does Praying Help With Mental Health?
Does praying help us improve our mental health? In a short answer, yes.
And just like a physical exercise routine, making prayer a consistent habit can come with long-term benefits.
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