Holiday of Healing: the Jobless

Each holiday season families go to gatherings, give each other gifts and enjoy festivities in honor of the season. For those jobless, this can become a real problem because while they should be enjoying the holiday they are instead worried about how to pay their bills, dealing with depression from not being able to provide their typical holiday gifts and being anxious of their future. Young children can make this time even more stressful because they don’t always understand why parents can’t provide gifts or give them the things they want during times of joblessness. Depression can set in, and for some, even suicidal thoughts or actions.

Pray for the jobless. When you have a job it’s easy to forget how stressed you can become when you don’t have money to take care of your family. Imagine your holiday season and pray for them like you would want someone else to pray for you.

Pray for:

• New job opportunities to open up in their area
• That God would provide their needs including food, clothing and shelter
• For wisdom in creating and presenting job resumes
• For favor with those who they interview with
• For good health which will keep them from having to pay doctor bills
• For perseverance and positive spirit to keep looking for a job daily
• For opportunities for your own family to help those in need around you
• For peace of mind instead of anxiety, knowing that God will take care of them
• That they would take any assistance that they are blessed with and not be too prideful to accept it.

What Can You Do?

1. Pray for them each day.

2. Invite the family of someone jobless over to your home for dinner and fellowship.

3. Give a bag of hope (groceries, toiletries, etc.) to the family.

4. Spend a few extra dollars on a gift (or make one) for this family. It may be the only gift they get.

5. Look for clothes, shoes, etc that your family no longer wears or has grown out of that you might be able to donate to this family.

6. Make them a dinner and bring it to them.

7. Offer to take them to church to help save on their gas needs.