Prayers for Peace When You Want to Scream

The holiday season tends to make most of us scream more than any other season throughout the year. The stress seems to be heightened by a number of factors such as financial pressures, excessive commitments, holiday parties, and family gatherings. Perhaps you have strained family relationships, or you have the pressure of hosting and making the holiday perfect. Meanwhile, you see on social media, along with all the holiday cards that arrive in the mail, those that appear to be your perfect, smiling friends with no problems, enjoying their life to the fullest. 

Or maybe the lack of peace causing you to want to scream is more of an internal battle. Maybe you feel lonely this time of year and as you reflect back on the year, it reminds you of all that you lost whether that was a loved one, a marriage, friendships, or financial loss. This time of year can cause you to scream internally wishing for a life you once had or a life you long for. You feel lost in your purpose and you realize another year has passed by with no direction and hope for the future.

The opposite of peace is worry. God’s peace is an inner calmness, and what a place to live in today’s chaotic world. Most of us don’t walk day to day in the peace the Lord offers us. Instead, we frantically chase a sense of peace in other things or people, and we end up finding ourselves screaming from the inside and quite possibly on the outside too.

Whatever the reason we want to scream, oftentimes it leaves us with no peace of mind, no direction of the future, chaos all around us, and worry and anxiety looming over us. You, like many others, are lacking peace in your life and perhaps this is spilling out to your homes. God’s peace gives us a firm grip on life, which we need in a world that is not firm. It gives us stability in an unstable world. It allows us to keep our footing when everything around us is tipping over. So, as we approach this holiday season and the end of another year, here are 5 prayers you can pray over yourself for peace when you want to scream:

1. Pray for peace amongst the chaos.

“Set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth.” Colossians 3:2

Dear God,

We thank you that you are amongst us in the midst of all the chaos and situations in our lives that cause us to want to scream. Teach us to change our focus by fixing our minds on things above. It’s so easy to get caught up in the circumstances around us, focusing on things on this earth. The things of this earth have temporal value and what makes us want to scream won’t be the central worry in our life forever. Teach us to live life from a Kingdom perspective. Forgive us for forgetting that our focus should be on you and things above. Remind us in those moments where we want to scream to put our focus first on you and then on our circumstances. We ask that you give us peace amongst the chaos of our circumstances. Peace that overrides everything we face here on earth. Remind us that you are with us, and “will never leave us nor forsake us” (Deuteronomy 31:6), despite what we experience here on earth. We pray for peace amongst all the chaos today. 

In Jesus’ name, 

Amen

2. Pray for peace with the past.

“...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us… Hebrews 12:1b

Dear God,

Thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross so that our sins may be forgiven, and we can one day spend eternity with you. Remind us of this amazing gift in the moments where we want to scream inside because we are so bogged down with the past. We are bogged down and anxious with the sins of our pasts, or what has been done to us in the past. We often hide it on the outside but scream on the inside. We fixate on the past and what should have been or what could have happened, and it keeps us tied down. The enemy wants us tied to the past, making us live a life lacking peace. Lord, we ask for your forgiveness for any sins unconfessed from our past. We ask for your forgiveness for hanging on to an old season or friendship which keeps us from walking in peace and the future. We ask that you show us what needs to be forgiven and let go, and we surrender it to you. We ask that we begin to experience the peace that you promise us with all the good, the bad, and the ugly of our past. Thank you for what you have in store for us ahead for “your plans are to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope, and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). We pray for peace with our past today. 

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

3. Pray for peace over your purpose.

“Where there is no vision, the people run wild, but blessed is he who follows divine instruction.” Proverbs 29:18

Dear God,

Thank you, Lord, that you have a great purpose for us. We know that where there is no peace, there is no victory in our purpose. Father, please forgive us for focusing on the things we want to scream about, rather than focusing on our purpose. We pray that you would remind us that that we are a part of building and expanding your Kingdom as you have “chosen us to be a people as your most treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6). We ask that you give us a fresh vision for your purpose for our lives. We ask that you open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to the vision that you have so we can live out our purpose. We desire to change our focus to our purpose rather than the things around us causing us to want to scream. We pray that you would draw us closer to you as you bring us revelation to our purpose. Please lead us, so that we do not run wild with no peace. Rather, lead us into your purpose for our lives. We pray for your peace over our purpose today. 

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

4. Pray for peace over your mind. 

“Greater is He that is in you than he who is of the world.” I John 4:4

Dear God,

With all the stuff we are inundated with from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed, we live in a world full of distractions and we have fallen short many times allowing the distractions to infiltrate our mind where our mind is so full of other things, that all we want to do is scream. Our minds and circumstances of the world fill us up more than the word of your truth. Please forgive us for not “seeking your Kingdom first, and all your righteousness...” (Matthew 6:33) above all else, allowing you to fill our minds before the world does. We have allowed the world to control our minds rather than lean into the power that we have in you. For you, Lord, are greater than anything in this world. You, Lord, are greater than anything that causes us to want to scream. You, Lord, are greater than any hard relationship, cancer diagnosis, hard to handle kids, and a loved one that is far from you. For greater are you who is in us than every other thing in this world. Sweet Jesus, forgive us for giving the world more power over our minds, and our thoughts allowing our thoughts to run wild. Remind us of the power we have with you inside us and we ask for your peace over our world-filled minds today. We pray for peace over our minds today, and more of you. 

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

5. Pray for peace over your worries.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Dear God,

Thank you for such encouraging Scripture. Lord, we are blessed to trade all our worries for your rest and peace, and that is a beautiful thing. Thank you for loving us so much, giving us promises like these as we navigate living on this earth with all our worries that make us want to scream. It is through our prayers such as this one, and thanksgiving, that your peace will surpass our understanding. Your peace will take over our understanding of our anxious situations. We want your peace. We want your peace to guard our hearts and our minds, for “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). What we think about in our hearts and minds will play out in our actions, and Lord, we don’t want to scream in emotion. We don’t want to act in ways that bleed negatively into our lives. We want to trade all the worries we think about for your peace. We want to think as you think. We thank you that your peace is like no other thing in this world. Your peace is the only thing that makes sense in a world that doesn’t. We love you, Lord, and pray for peace over our worries today. 

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/FamVeld

Alisha Headley is a writer + speaker who has a desire to meet the everyday woman in her everyday life with biblical truth. Stepping into her true calling, she left the corporate world behind as a former-financial VP to love on her family as a stay-at-home wifey + dog mama, while also being able to pursue her passion as a writer. Healing from a chapter of life consumed with lies she once believed about herself, she is inspired to point women to Christ to experience the freedom + power to overcome those lies with the truth written in God’s word. In her free time, Alisha enjoys road trips around the country, working out so she can eat her favorite foods, and creatively styling her outfits with a craft for fashion. Alisha is a proud wifey and dog mama living in Scottsdale, Arizona.

You can follow her blog by visiting her website or connect with her on facebook + instagram.