Caregiving for a Loved One with Dementia Prayer
This caregiving for a loved one with dementia prayer helps caregivers receive God’s help, strength, hope and comfort. This prayer enables you to honestly express your feelings to God about caregiving for a loved one with dementia so you can receive moments of rest and reassurance no matter what the day brings.
Caregiving for a Loved One with Dementia Prayer
Loving Lord, Thank you for the gift of these few minutes to stop and breathe and to remember that you are with me in this very moment.
Dementia is an illness that tempts me to question why such a thing would exist. I am losing my loved one a lit bit every day, and at times it is so sad for me.
But I have confidence in your words that “all the days ordained for me (and my loved one!) were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16b).
Help me to see my loved one and our situation through your eyes. Show me all the ways you are present so that the caregiving struggles that tempt me to question myself turn into signposts that assure me of your presence.
Remind me that one mishap does not govern my entire day; that my day is made up of moments just like this one and that you are creating anew every single moment.
Help me to not feel trapped in a situation where I sometimes feel powerless and to find ways where freedom abounds, even if only is for five minutes sitting with my feet up and drinking a cup of coffee.
Give me the courage to reach out for help when I feel overwhelmed, and direct me to those who want to support me but who count on me to tell them how they can do that.
Above all, Lord, give me hope; hope that my efforts are everything my loved one needs, hope that tomorrow will bring me answers to questions I have today, and hope in your words that I truly can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen.
About this caregiving for a loved one with dementia prayer
Caregiving can be a very lonely experience. Often, the person you are caring for is the very person you previously would have turned to for support.
That loss of the relationship while still maintaining devotion to the loved one who, in many ways is no longer present, can be devastatingly sad. It is tempting to only experience what is going wrong in your role as caregiver – a role you that you may not have expected to have.
But in the midst of all that seems challenging, God is always with us and offering us hope. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find that hope when the duties of caregiving can be so constant.
I wrote this prayer because I have discovered when I feel overwhelmed, if I commit myself to taking 1-3 minutes to stop where I am, close my eyes and take slow, deep breaths, I give God the opportunity to get my attention.
Help for caregivers
You can find more help from Elizabeth in her book Sanctuary in the Midst of Alzheimer’s: A Ministry for Husbands and Wives Caring for a Spouse with Dementia. Visit https://elizabethshulman.com/
Her other articles on prayerideas.org:
Time of death prayer of thanksgiving and hope
Other helpful prayers on the prayerideas website
Copyright Elizabeth Shulman 2019. All rights reserved
