Sometimes it’s all we can do to whisper, “Lord I am tired and weary.” This prayer for mental strength will help you find the rest you need.
We try to avoid reaching the point of mental exhaustion, but sometimes life sends us one thing right after another and knocks us off our feet. It sucks the energy out of us, and it’s all we can do to simply muster the strength to whisper, “Lord I am tired and weary!” For those seasons, this prayer for mental strength will help you find rest.
Find a quiet place, take a deep breath, and let’s begin.
I’m tired, Lord. How long can this go on? I’m struggling. I’m weary.
Normally I come to you with praise and thankfulness, but right now my mind is so clouded that I can’t begin to find the words to pray. All I know is that I feel like I’m drowning. I’m overwhelmed.
My hope and strength need to be renewed. Refresh my mind. Give me the perspective you want me to have. Help me to see your hand at work in this situation. Show me how to put my trust in you so my mind can find the rest it needs.
I know that I don’t have enough strength and fortitude, but you do. Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. With you, I am strong. Please make that very real to me right now.
Help me focus on what you want me to do next, keeping my eyes fixed on you instead of what’s going on all around me.
Help me remember that I’m a cherished child of the King of Kings. Speak peace to my mind. Calm my mind. Heal me of my weariness. Gently lead me out from under this heavy fog I feel like I’m in right now. This is hard and I need your help.
I pray the scripture Philippians 4:7 today, knowing that you will give me peace and guard my heart. Renew my mind. Guard my thoughts, Lord. Transform my thinking and the feelings I am experiencing right now.
Like what I read in Philippians 4:8, help me give my attention to things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy.
Help me meditate on these things throughout the day, and also to take captive any thoughts that are working against me and not from you.
Thank you for the mercies you make new every morning for me, and help me to rejoice in you today. You are holy, righteous, gracious, and powerful. Thank you for giving me a divine peace. Thank you for loving me, giving me rest, removing my weariness, and bringing strength to my mind today.
In Jesus name, amen.
If you feel like God wants you to pray longer, then keep going! You don’t have to stop. You may also choose to just sit quietly and listen to what he’s speaking to your heart. Take deep breaths, pause, and reflect on his goodness.
I also encourage you to spend time in the Word of God. Meditate on these bible verses for the weary and tired mind… they will help you feel refreshed and renewed!
Isaiah 41:10
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Psalm 30:5
“Even if you are in tears today, joy comes in the morning!”
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
1 Peter 5:7
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.”
Psalm 105:4
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.”
Isaiah 40:31
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
”
Hebrews 4:16
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Nehemiah 8:10
“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Philippians 4:11-13
“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
2 Chronicles 16:9
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
”
Psalm 138:3
“In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul.”
Isaiah 40:28-29
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”
Exodus 33:14
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Psalm 121:1-3
“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip, he who watches over you will not slumber.”
Jeremiah 31:25
“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
Recommended Book: Ordering Your Private World by Rev.
Gordon MacDonald
Thank you for clicking and purchasing through our Amazon referral link
What has helped you during those times you’ve cried out “Lord I am tired and weary” — We’d love to hear your testimony and prayer for mental strength!
FREE WEEKLY PRAYER JOURNALOur free weekly prayer journal comes to your email and is completely printable, so you can print it as often as you like. It’s beautiful and will help inspire you to dig deeper in prayer. Get it here.
You might also like:
Change Makers
Photo
A double rainbow appears over a village in Tanzania. (©2013 World Vision/photo by Robert Coronado)
There is nothing like physical pain to drive you to your knees in prayer.
For 20 years, I was plagued by crippling back pain and sciatica. Time after time, I cried out to God for his healing power on my body, but nothing improved. Even as a prayer warrior, I grew weary in going to God about the same thing day in and day out.
One of the hardest challenges of the Christian walk is waiting for God to answer our prayers when we urgently need him to intervene in a circumstance that is breaking our heart, testing our faith, and robbing us of peace and joy. I have been on my knees many times with my Bible in hand, tearfully reminding God of his promises when my husband and I were in a financial crisis, a friend was stricken with a life-threatening disease, or one of my children was in trouble.
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.—Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)
And for years, many of my prayers have been centered on my own need for a miracle.
In 2017, after 20 years of pain, I had back surgery to un-pinch my spinal cord, replace deteriorated discs, and straighten my back. The surgery was the answer to my prayers in many ways. I am grateful every day that I can now walk without leg pain and do many of the things I love, like working in my garden, standing long enough to bake cookies with my granddaughter, and traveling to speak for World Vision. However, the trauma to the nerves in my back is taking much longer to heal, and I continue to cry out to God.
Of course, compared to the suffering in many parts of this broken world, my pain is nothing. My heart is often broken by stories about the ongoing hunger crisis in East Africa, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the hatred and violence that seems to be affecting so many. These are problems that only God can solve by changing people’s hearts and minds. But he calls us to participate by giving what we can to those in need and praying without ceasing, because prayer is our greatest weapon against the powers and principalities of this world — that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:12 — which are at the root of today’s suffering.
Like the healing of my back and other situations my family has faced, some prayers take time to fully materialize. As Psalm 40 says, sometimes we have to wait for God’s timing, and it is not unusual to experience what I call “intercession fatigue” when we are faithful to pray, but nothing seems to be happening. One of the greatest challenges we face as Christians is continuing to believe for a miracle when all indications are “it just ain’t happening.”
So, if you tire as you continue crying out to the Lord, here are a few suggestions that have helped me continue to expect my miracle even when all God seems to be saying is “wait.”
God’s love is at the root of all hope and, when we truly love someone, we will do anything for them. This is how God cares for us. Humans are created in his image, which means we get our capacity to love and feel compassion from him. In Matthew 7:9-11, we read that God wants to give us good things.
So, we can be confident when we pray that God hears us and wants good things for us, those we love, and for all his creation.
Faith is a living expression that grows as we dare to put it into action. So, if we take time to remember all the miraculous ways he has answered our prayers in the past, we will find new courage and hope for the future — and our faith will grow.
Scripture gives us the authority to claim our miracle whether it is physical healing, reconciliation with a friend or loved one, financial provision, wisdom at work, or even something as seemingly impossible as world peace. Every situation imaginable has an applicable promise in the Bible. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is alive and active, so let God’s own words be your argument before his Throne of Grace.
One of my greatest frustrations when I pray is that, while I can identify the problem, I have no idea how to fix it.
So, I am uncertain how to pray. That is when I claim Romans 8:26 which says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (NIV). God doesn’t need our words to know our hearts, and he is faithful to answer even our unspoken requests.
We all have times when we are just too tired or discouraged to keep praying, and we need others to come alongside to support us. Even Moses — who led the Israelites out of Egypt — needed a little help from his friends. Exodus 17 tells us about a time when the Israelites were in a great battle. As long as Moses held up his hands, they won. But when he let them down, they began to lose. Verse 12 tells us how when Moses’ arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, and they stood beside him and each held up an arm. We all need Aarons and Hurs in our lives. My family prayed for 15 years before we saw a loved one delivered from drug addiction.
And I have to say, there were times when I just laid on the floor and let my tears do the talking. I needed trusted friends to pray when I could not. Together we fought the battle and won!
When we feel like we are running on spiritual fumes, and our spiritual life is beginning to sputter, it may be time to give in, not up. Sometimes we are so determined to win the battle we’re facing that we forget to ask God if we are praying in his will. Paul gives us a great example of this kind of spiritual surrender to God’s plan in 2 Corinthians 12:6-8. Three times he prayed about a “thorn in the flesh” that bothered him. God eventually answered, saying that his grace “is sufficient,” and this weakness stayed with the apostle. It brought him to a point of recognizing that God’s power works through our weaknesses. I have to confess that there have been times when I realized that while I was waiting for God to answer my prayers, he was waiting for me to “give in” to his will.
Finally, I will end with the best medicine I know to combat intercession fatigue: Rejoice in the Lord, always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4, NIV). The journey is just as important as what we’re praying for, so while we wait, we should praise God for who he is and all the good things he has, is, and will do.
Pray Now
Marilee Pierce Dunker travels the world as an ambassador for World Vision, the organization her father, Bob Pierce, founded in 1950. Like he did, she shares stories, pictures, and personal reflections, bearing witness to the extraordinary ways God is using his people to share the gospel and care for the poor.
Visit World Vision’s Speakers Bureau site to request Marilee or another World Vision speaker to present at your upcoming event.
Tell Me More
Written by:
Marilee Pierce Dunker
Updated on:
January 2, 2019
3" Attention should be paid to those friends and acquaintances who suddenly begin to behave strangely, unusually. Most suicidal people seem to put up “warning signs” in front of them. These signs are their cry for help.
Threat to commit suicide. As a rule, suicidal teenagers directly or indirectly let their friends and relatives know that they are going to die. You can’t rethink a direct threat; it doesn’t lend itself to various interpretations. “I'm going to commit suicide”, “I won't be alive next Monday”... Direct threats, even if they feel strained, should be taken extremely seriously. Sharing with you thoughts about suicide for the sake of a “red word” or for the purpose of a joke is unlikely to come to anyone's mind. nine0003
Indirect threats, meaningful hints are harder to catch. “Life won’t get worse without me” or “Sometimes you want to put an end to all this once and for all”, or “Lord, how tired of living!” Indirect threats are not easy to isolate from a conversation, sometimes they can be mistaken for the most ordinary "complaints about life" that are common to all of us when we are irritated, tired or depressed.
Direct and indirect threats should be treated very carefully, although indirect threats can be quite difficult to recognize. Fortunately, the "warning signs" are not limited to threats. nine0003
Verbal warnings.
- "I decided to kill myself."
- "Tired". How can! Fed up with!"
- "Better to die!"
- "Live - and that's enough!"
- "I hate my life."
- "I hate everyone and everything!"
- "The only way out is to die!"
- "I can't take it anymore!"
- "You won't see me again!"
- "Do you believe in the transmigration of souls? Someday, maybe I will return to this world!” nine0003
- "If we don't see each other again, thank you for everything."
- "I'm leaving the game. Tired!”
Abrupt changes in behavior. When people suddenly start behaving unusually, this is a sure sign that something is wrong with them. Remember: we behave depending on what we feel at the moment.
Potential suicides are usually sad, pensive, or agitated, embittered, often self-hating. in the behavior and appearance of those who hatch plans for suicide, their negative emotions are manifested. Pay attention to the change in the behavior of your relatives and acquaintances in the following ways. nine0003
nine0052
Bereavement.
The death of relatives: parents or brothers and sisters can push adolescents to thoughts of suicide. After such a loss, the life of a teenager changes in the most decisive way, now he has to not only come to terms with the loss of a loved one, but also close the gap that this loss has made in his life. Some teenagers cannot even imagine how they will live without a father or mother, brother or sister. nine0003
The losses suffered by adolescents are not limited to the death of loved ones. Some teenagers start contemplating suicide after a fight with a girlfriend or after their parents divorced.
Sometimes young people do not want to live anymore if they have suffered a serious illness or if they have an accident that disfigures them.
Everyone bears the loss in their own way. A loss that may seem insignificant to one may become (or seem) irreparable to another. Changing his whole subsequent life, such a loss can push him to suicide. nine0003
Aggression, rebellion and defiance .
Adolescents who want to end their lives are often hurt and embittered: they are angry with parents, teachers or friends who did not please them in some way, offended them, did not live up to their expectations. Sometimes they are angry with themselves, and their anger manifests itself in aggression, rebellion and defiance. Like any change in mood, such "explosions" should be alarming. People around, as a rule, do not want to deal with an irritated, quick-tempered, unpredictable person. As a result, just those people who could, if necessary, provide real help to him, turn away from the problem teenager. A person who is in social isolation is in danger of falling into the zone of suicidal risk. nine0003
Self-destructive and risky behavior. Some suicidal adolescents constantly seek to harm themselves, behave "on the verge of risk." They are carried headlong by cars, bicycles and motorcycles. No matter where they are - at busy intersections, on a winding mountain road, on a narrow bridge or on railway tracks - they drive everywhere at the limit of speed and risk.
Some even carry firearms and, pretending to be dashing gangsters, carelessly brandish a pistol, point the muzzle at their foreheads, declare that they are “joking” - and demonstrate feigned composure. nine0003
Some young people who are at risk of suicide stop taking care of their health. They may begin to smoke and drink heavily or use drugs, or combine drugs with alcohol.
Loss of self-respect . There are days when any teenager feels like the ugliest, clumsiest, and stupidest creature in the world. However, such "self-flagellation" usually does not last long. Some pleasant surprise happens, and self-flagellation is replaced by self-praise, everything falls into place. As a rule, young people have enough self-esteem and self-confidence, which allows them to survive the hard times and mood swings that they are so prone to. nine0003
Teenagers who have lost their self-respect are quite another matter. Young people with low self-esteem or who treat themselves without any respect at all consider themselves worthless, unnecessary and unloved.
They feel like they're outsiders and losers, that they're failing, and that no one likes them. In this case, they may have the idea that it would be better if they died.
Risk groups.
Depression and the desire to commit suicide are not the same thing. You can suffer from depression, but do not even think about suicide. At the same time, the majority of suicidal adolescents are united by a tendency to depression. Depression is usually preceded by a feeling of sadness, often unconscious, and hopelessness. nine0003
Almost all young people experience depression and melancholy from time to time. Mood swings are characteristic of young people, but these swings continue for a day or two, no more. The so-called situational depression is directly related to what happened or is happening in the life of a teenager: young men and women react vividly to bad grades, to quarrels with friends and girlfriends, to family troubles, to loss of work.
Adolescents who face not one, but several problems at the same time, fall into depression, triple the ability to find a way out of the situation. nine0003
Depression can lead young people to commit suicide because depressed teenagers often think that their misery will never end. It seems to them that they have fallen into a streak of bad luck, that “it will only get worse” and that there is no way out of this situation and cannot be. They imagine that the life they lead now will continue forever. The way out of this state of hopelessness can be suicide.
Depressed teenagers lose interest in life, in the people who surround them. They stop communicating with friends, stop doing what they used to do with interest. They look sad, depressed, they sleep a lot, they usually talk in a quiet, tired voice. The impression is that they live through force. They are involved in a vicious circle: depression leads to alienation, alienation breeds melancholy, melancholy - a new round of depression.
And the longer this cycle lasts, the greater the risk that a teenager, trying to end melancholy and loneliness, will end his life. nine0003
Alcoholism and drug addiction . There are three ways in which alcohol and drugs affect a “depressed” teenager:
1. If a teenager does not drink or use drugs in principle, but is depressed and contemplating suicide, drinking and drugs can cloud his mind and push him to suicide .
2. If a teenager is a drinker and drug addict, drinking and drug use can cause depression and suicidal thoughts.
3. If the parents of a teenager are alcoholics and drug addicts, then family scandals and troubles caused by this circumstance can significantly affect the psyche of a teenager, bring him close to the suicidal line. nine0003
Approximately one third of teens who commit suicide are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Most often, a teenager does not use drugs, but drinks - usually beer: it is cheaper and more accessible.
Most young people who commit suicide under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not really drug addicts or alcoholics, they are just very ill. Alcohol and drugs cloud the mind, deprive teenagers of the opportunity to think “with a cool head”. nine0003
They are already depressed - under the influence of alcohol and drugs, suicide may seem to them the only way to stop the mental pain. As a result, they develop courage and are more risk-averse than when sober.
Drugs and alcohol have a detrimental effect on the lives of those teenagers whose parents are alcoholics and drug addicts. By themselves, young people may not be addicted to drugs and alcohol, but their lives are full of suffering due to the fact that the family breaks up. nine0003
Gifted teenagers . It's hard to believe that your smart, talented friends can run into problems that will make them attempt to die. The thing is that gifted teenagers are faced with the need to demonstrate their superiority in all areas of life, which, naturally, imposes considerable obligations on them.
It begins to seem to many of them that they do not love them, but the awards, prizes and honors that they receive, the abilities that they are endowed with by nature. Therefore, as soon as they get just one bad mark, take not first, but second place in a sports competition, or somehow “prove” that their talents are exaggerated, they become depressed, they begin to feel that they have let everyone down, including themselves. Feelings of shame and guilt over the “failure” that has befallen may push them to think about suicide. nine0003
Adolescents gifted in one area or another are often overly meticulous, petty; each step they carefully verify, think over; it seems to them that any decision they make should be the only possible one, that there is no other way but the one chosen by them. It is difficult for them - and even impossible - to imagine that they were mistaken in their calculations and that they should choose a different path.
Adolescents with poor school performance.
Adolescents who find it difficult to learn and therefore do poorly, often suffer from low self-esteem and, as a result, become depressed. Both of these can lead to suicide. nine0003
Such students may be among your friends. Maybe they even complained to you about their lack of ability. In fact, this is not a defect, but a discrepancy: for the education of such students, other methods are needed that would enable them to finish school and get a profession.
Because these students face particular challenges in the classroom, they are under increased stress. Their self-esteem is constantly undermined by the caustic remarks of their classmates and teachers, which can make them feel like they are stupid and will never achieve anything. nine0003
Everyone wants to be loved by teachers and classmates – the lack of such love can become a heavy burden, which a teenager can get rid of only by resorting to desperate measures.
Pregnancy. Teenagers are becoming more and more sexually active every year, and these sexually active teenagers are not using contraceptives.
which is why there is nothing surprising in the fact that girls in our time become pregnant at an earlier and earlier age. Many of them - if they suspect or be convinced that they are pregnant - are horrified and panicked. nine0003
Most of them are afraid of parental anger. Some people care what they say to teachers and friends. Including the boys who looked after them. Now they are likely to leave them, yes or no? How will pregnancy affect their plans?
The decisions they have to make in connection with pregnancy (To keep or not to keep the child? And if so, who will take care of it?) are also very ambiguous. It may turn out that the girl does not know what to do. She will be afraid that her parents or her friend will force her to make a choice that seems to her undesirable. nine0003
Pregnancy is an unsolvable problem for many girls. They understand that pregnancy is not something you can hide, and they believe that their relationship with their parents and friends will be ruined forever.
It seems to them that life has not worked out, which means that death is the only thing left for them.
Adolescent victims of violence . Until your boyfriend or girlfriend admits to you that they have been physically, emotionally or sexually hurt at school, at home, or elsewhere, you are likely to be completely unaware of what happened. However, some evidence will give you reason to suspect that your friend or girlfriend has been the victim of abuse. nine0003
Low self-esteem, as well as rough verbal altercations between your friend and his parents, will serve as clear evidence of emotional trauma. However, young people who have been emotionally traumatized usually act timidly, shyly, as if afraid to draw attention to themselves. They have been taught to think that they are incapable of anything, stupid and ignorant. Often, therefore, they lack self-confidence, every word in their defense is given to them with incredible difficulty. nine0003
Sexual trauma is especially difficult to track down, as the herb is usually kept in deep secrecy.
Infliction of sexual trauma frightens young people, they lose ground under their feet, feel shame and a sense of disgust. Many teenagers try to keep such a trauma a secret, because they are afraid that no one will believe them. They are also afraid that the rapist would not deal with them or with members of their family.
As a result of violence, young people fall into a suicidal zone, because they see no other way out than death. nine0003
Adolescents are not at risk of suicide until others join the main problem, the main suffering. If everything in their life goes well, one, even the most insoluble, problem is not dangerous.
Coal Mine Work - Allen Toussaint song
After Toussaint returned from New Orleans where he served in the military (1963–65), he founded the music publishing company Sansu with his partner Marshall Sehorn.
He released several singles between the ages of 65 and 66, performed by Lee Dorsey and other musicians working in Coal Mine . The song tells about the suffering of a man who had to get up at 5 am to work in a coal mine five days a week. This is the only way he makes a living, although the work is very hard and dangerous. The man keeps saying, "Oh my God, how long is this going to last?" ( How long can this go on? ). He repeats this phrase to himself on weekends when he is too tired to have fun. At the end of the song, in the instrumental, he repeats: “God, I'm so tired, how long is this going to last? " nine0199 ("God, I'm so tired / How long can this go on?") .
This song was a hit by Lee Dorsey on Amy Records (catalog number 958), went straight into the US Top 100 (Billboard Hot 100) and finally peaked at number eight. and number five on the Billboard R&B chart. Dorsey's version was used in a Blaupunkt car radio commercial.
Also in 1995 in Casino by Martin Scorsese. In 1981 group Devo covered their album New Traditionalists . This version would later be used for the scores for Howling Metal and Model Employees . It hit the top 10 singles in New Zealand and number forty-third on the Hot 100. Also performed in shut up and sing . This Devo cover was also used as the theme for the NBC sitcom Working . The song was adapted for a Walmart commercial, with the lyrics changed to "We're working on a price cut, prices are going down" ( Working on a rollback, prices are going down ).
In the feature film Most Wanted Dolls she is played by prisoners from the Gulag in Siberia.
| Chart (1966) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart nine0329 | 20 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 43 year |
| Billboard USA Hot Dance Club Play | 30 |
| Billboard US Popular Rock Tracks | 53 |
