Can Faith and Prayer Affect PTSD?

Faith and Prayer, Uncategorized 3 Minutes

Hey Warriors,

Watch Dog here. I really hope that you are all doing well. Melissa and I are very excited about this upcoming year and the plans that we have in place to move Relentless Warriors Legacy further and be able to reach more people. One of the steps we are taking is that we have picked topics to cover each month. That means every Monday you will have a post about that month’s topic. Melissa and I will trade off each week giving our perspective on the topic. We agreed that Faith and Prayer would be a great way to start out this new year.

I love these topics paired together because I believe that they go hand in hand. I’m excited to cover this topic because it can remind me how important they are. Faith AND Prayer are extremely important in navigating through this rough brain injury known as PTSD! I will discuss how prayer and faith has helped me with PTSD.

Faith was and still is, a wonderful thing in my life, even when I didn’t realize it was faith I had. Stay with me here for a second. I wasn’t a Christian as a child, I knew that churches were those buildings that had a “t” on top of them. Even though I didn’t know why, I still always had a feeling that life was going to be okay. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” There was a short period of time when I lost faith, all faith. I didn’t see any hope in my life. I couldn’t see any way through. My life was over in my mind because I couldn’t see any way to keep going. Melissa and our children didn’t give up on me, even though I was ready to give up on myself.

It was because of my family that I kept on fighting. Matthew 17:20 says, “I say to you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” This passage in the Bible has really spoken to me. I have figured out that this passage is true, sometimes that mountain will be moved one pebble at a time though. To me this is a perfect example of faith, because it truly takes faith to understand that God is doing what we need in our life at his pace, not ours. Just because we do not see it, does not mean He isn’t working in our lives. When I look back over the last 20 years there are more than one mountain that God has helped me move.

Prayer is another huge part of healing this awful brain injury known as PTSD. I have a horrible prayer life, (just being honest, I’m working on being more consistent). Psalms 34:17 says, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.” I have asked God “Why me” for 15 years without an answer. After I went through the Mighty Oaks Program, I asked God “Why did it take so long to find something to help?” That is when He answered me. Matthew 21:22 says, “And whatsoever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” I realized two things when God answered me. First, that I was asking the wrong question out of anger and desperation, not faith. Secondly, I was not ready for the answer until I had learned what I learned through the Mighty Oaks Programs. God gave me an answer to a question I thought he was never going to give me the answer to.

Through my PTSD journey I have had to face many demons, many giants, and I have been lost inside myself. I have a great support system in my wife and children, and with my church family, and most importantly in God Himself. The issue was I was so lost and so scared to ask for help, that I could not see the support around me. I was so scared, and thought I could do it on my own, and because of that I almost lost it all. I was so afraid of PTSD that I told Melissa to “take the boys and go, and we’ll get this over with now.” I thought it was a death sentence, thank God Melissa had faith in me when I didn’t. God let me know why I suffered so much for so long. He has a use for me, to reach you!

Lawrene “Watch Dog” McGuire

We’re Fighting This Together.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please leave comments or questions for Melissa, me or both of us.

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Published by relentlesswarriorslegacy

Welcome to Relentless Warriors Legacy. RWL for short, is a PTSD ministry ran by us, Lawrence and Melissa McGuire. Relentless Warriors Legacy is here to show couples and individuals there is hope despite PTSD. PTSD is a hard thing to navigate in a marriage and in relationships, so we share our experiences with PTSD and that with God at the center, we are thriving instead of surviving. We offer support to couples and individuals to find their way out of the darkness and give tomorrow a chance. We have been married for over 20 years and have 3 amazing boys. Lawrence has been in the fire service for over 20 yrs and was in the military for just over 15 yrs. We have PTSD, Grief and Depression in our marriage. It has taken us a lot of time to navigate all of it. Our marriage still has its ups and downs, but it is still the best it has ever been. While our main focus is on marriages, Lawrence and I both meet with individuals once a month to talk about different subjects dealing with PTSD. We also have this blog, Instagram page and Facebook page. Helping others navigate this hard territory is our God given passion. We love to talk about the things that have worked for us and what has not. It is not a one size fits all solution. Please join us each week to talk about another topic. Thank you for diving into our blog!! Lawrence and Melissa McGuire (Watch Dog and Relentless)

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