God, sometimes I don’t know what to do with my feelings!
I’m guess I’m glad I can feel, because I can’t imagine not having any emotions, but I love the good ones and hate the bad ones. The good ones don’t last long enough and the bad ones hang around way too long. I wish the good ones came more often and and the bad ones came a lot less. I know that all sounds so selfish and shallow, and that’s how I feel a lot of the time.
Sometimes I’m afraid of my feelings when I can’t control myself. I feel like they ambush me. Like when I get angry way too often, or when tears come at the worst possible time. Sometimes my good feelings lead me astray and I look back later and wonder what I was thinking. They cloud my judgement. Sometimes I say and do stupid stuff when I’m worked up, and I regret it later.
God, I need a heart and head balance. I need Your help, because all by myself I can really screw things up when I don’t feel good. I can even screw things up when I’m super happy too, by looking before I leap sometimes. I don’t want to shut down my ability to feel, and I don’t want to let my feelings run wild either. I pray You’ll please help me remember to stop and think when I feel bad, to be sure I’m not letting my feelings override the situation. God, remind me of the truth, that it won’t always be “this” way. Things will change as they always do, and then I may feel differently when they do.
God when I’m miserable, help me to find a better solution to change my mood rather than numbing out with a drink or a drug or a dangerous person that takes my mind off my pain. You made me with emotions for a good reason, and You made me with intellect too. God, continue to teach me and reteach me that my feelings are an expression of my thoughts, and with Your help I can choose to think in healthy ways. The more I can do that, the better I can do with all these feelings that are inside me.
God, help me handle my feelings so my feelings don’t handle me.
Amen.
Rev. Greg Griffin is a Board Certified Pastoral Counselor and Forgiveness Coach in private practice in Marietta, GA. His specialty is relationship repair and rescue- helping partners, spouses, and parents and their adolescents. He’s also the author of Dungeon Times Survival Guide, and Vital Faith.