A Prayer for Seasonal Depression

Father, the light has grown short and so has my strength. The early dark seems to pull something out of me, and by afternoon I am already tired of the gray. I do not fully understand why my body and my heart answer the seasons this way, but You made me, and You are not confused by it.

I confess that this stretch of the year feels long and dim, and I am weary of pretending I am fine when the sky goes flat and low. I miss feeling like myself. I miss warmth I cannot manufacture on my own.

So I turn to You, the One who set the sun and the seasons in their order. You are the same in winter as in summer, unchanging when everything around me dims.

I ask You to carry me through these darker weeks. Help me reach for small mercies: a window, a walk, an honest word to someone who loves me. If a doctor or counselor can help my body hold the light, give me the humility to go.

Your Word promises that even the darkness is not dark to You, that night shines like day in Your sight. Be my light when the days are short.

I give You this dim season, every flat morning of it, and I trust that spring is already on its way. Hold me until the light returns. Amen.