Effective Help

O Lord, hear my plea for justice. Listen to my cry for help. Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips     Psalm 17:1

I was recently speaking to a client about dealing with panic attacks. As we discussed behaviors that she could consider in her “anxiety tool kit” that we were developing, she mentioned that when she was a young girl, her grandmother would often take her into a church. When in church, she would light votive candles and pray for another person who might need prayer at that time.

We talked about how she could employ that strategy now in her own home. She takes a votive candle and lights it when she is feeling a panic attack building. She then begins to pray for someone who could use prayer at the time. She does not necessarily pray for herself, but does intercessory prayer for someone else.

I think this strategy is great for several reasons. First, it brings back pleasant and soothing memories from her childhood, which has a calming effect. Second, she performs an action – lighting the candle- which is a visible, sensory action. Finally, she is praying for someone else, taking attention away from her own worries and trying to help another person. In so doing, she is redeeming a negative, her panic attack, into a positive action for another person.  

We need to be innovative in ways that we deal with anxiety and stress, and this client has found a powerful and effective way to deal with hers.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord for the plan to intercede for one another, and thereby helping ourselves as well. Amen