A Prayer For Overwhelming Emotion

Several circumstances can invoke overwhelming emotions in us depending on what happened. For example, if a loving parent discovered that his or her child was being mistreated at school by a teacher, it is not surprising that the parent would be filled with overwhelming anger. If a person who profoundly and genuinely loved a friend is betrayed by that same friend, the person could be experiencing overwhelming hurt or sadness. Experiencing and feeling those emotions is not necessarily a sin. When the teacher mistreats someone’s child, what kind of loving parent wouldn’t be angry about it? Likewise, who wouldn’t be deeply sad and hurt when a dear friend betrays them? Our emotions are valid, but that does not mean that we are to be controlled by them. So, we ask God and pray to Him to help us navigate our overwhelming emotions.

Heavenly Father, guide and help me as I experience these overwhelming emotions. I come to You for the grace and mercy that I need. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Emotions Are Valid

It is important to first acknowledge that the emotions that we feel are valid and not necessarily sins. For example, in (Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:), it is written that we may be angry, but we shouldn’t sin. Whenever we see something such as injustice or wrongdoing, whether done toward us or others, we are expected to be angry. However, just because we are angry does not mean that we are to sin because of our anger. In other words, the emotions that we feel are valid as, after all, we are human beings created by God with emotions. However, what dictates our behavior is not our emotions.

It is okay to feel emotion, as shown in several examples. One is Psalm 42:1-5, where we can see how David was vulnerable to God and experiencing overwhelming despair and melancholy. Yet, he wasn’t consumed by this to the point of distrusting God. He was honest with his emotions and cried out to God. Another example is in Psalm 37:7-8, where the psalmist tells us to be still before God and wait patiently for Him. We are not to fret ourselves over the one who prospers in his way and carries out evil. We are to refrain from anger and forsake wrath.

 

 

Exercising Self-Control

Whenever we experience overwhelming emotions, one of the ways to navigate them is by the exercise of self-control. In (Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.), it is shown that self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit. When we feel overwhelming anger, we will refrain from sin if we exercise self-control. For instance, even though we experience overwhelming emotions concerning our affection for someone, that does not mean that we throw logic and reason out the window. We still exercise self-control.

Self-control can indeed be very challenging to exercise if we are overwhelmed by emotions. However, when we do exercise it, the Bible never calls us to do so through our own strength. Rather, we are to be self-controlled believers by God’s grace, which enables us. In Titus 2:11-12, it is written that it’s the grace of God that saves us and trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. Therefore, whenever we feel overwhelming emotions, we pray to ask God to help us be calm, let our emotions not get ahead of us, and exercise reason and self-control.

Father in heaven, I am overwhelmed by these emotions that I feel; help me navigate them in a manner that does not consume me. May reason still prevail and give me the grace to exercise self-control and make choices that would honor You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

The Grace to Continue

There are times when the overwhelming emotions that we feel cause us to be paralyzed. For example, if one is overly anxious, it could cause them to do nothing at all and freeze due to the overwhelming anxiety they are experiencing. Likewise, a person may also feel overwhelming sadness and sorrow—when there is deep emotional turmoil and struggle within a person’s soul caused by being in distress. Even David wasn’t foreign to such an experience. He had such emotional distress that when he cried out to God in Psalm 6:6-9, he wrote that he drenched his couch with his weeping and that his eyes were wasted away because of grief.

While indeed those emotions are valid, given whatever experience we have had, that does not mean that those emotions should dictate our lives. It does not mean that we are to stop functioning. It also does not mean that we are going to stop persevering in life and miss out on what God has called us to do, whatever that mission and purpose God has for each of us. In (2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.), it is written that His grace is sufficient for you, for your power is made perfect in weakness. It is when we are weak that we are made strong by God’s grace. So, we may be in emotional distress, but we can continually persevere in life and be strong through God’s grace.

Father in heaven, despite these overwhelming emotions that I have that weigh on me deeply, give me the grace that I need to persevere day by day and continue to live a victorious and dynamic life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Whenever we are overwhelmed by the emotions that we feel, we can choose to not be driven by them. Remember that in Christ we have the grace to exercise self-control and reason. If we are weighed down by deep sadness and sorrow, we also have the grace in Christ to be strong and persevere in life.