Depression – This past week I encountered five people who are suffering with depression.  They do not feel things will ever get better. 

Most everyone including many children have bouts of depression at some level.  Yet, people will deny they are depressed. They don’t want to be judged as imperfect in so called perfect world.

Depression is a huge issue not being addressed by the body of Jesus Christ through effective prayer.  Bottom line is we have not been taught how to pray effectively.

Depression Definition – Depression is a common and serious mood disorder or a mental health disorder characterized by persistent, severe, and disabling sadness, sorrow, loss of interest, and changes in mood, sleep, eating, and thinking that interferes with daily functions.

Mankind tells us depression is caused by a complex interaction of genetic, biological, environmental, psychological, and social factors, rather than a single cause. Factors that increase risk include stressful (fearful) life events, personality traits, family history of depression. Depression is an emotional disorder.

Spirit of heaviness

In the Bible, "heaviness" signifies deep sorrow, spiritual burden, grief, or despair, often described as a "spirit of heaviness" that weighs down the soul stemming from hardship, sin, and spiritual oppression.

Psalm 69:20 Reproach (disappointment) has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity (sorrow/sympathy), but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.

Psalm 119:28 My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word.

Isaiah 29:2 Yet I will distress (pain and suffering) Ariel; There shall be heaviness and sorrow (sadness/depression), and it shall be to Me as Ariel.  Every

What Does the Bible Say About the Causes of Depression?

First, I want to focus on anxiety and despair.  Anxiety and despair often exist in a destructive, self-perpetuating cycle, where intense, uncontrollable worry (anxiety/stress/fear) triggers feelings of hopelessness and despair leading to depression. 

We must focus on fear and the many like words such as anxiety, worry, terror, dread, trembling, dismay, and afraid. Many say that fear and like words are mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible.  The Bible is telling us that fear is a huge issue.  God says Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, Isiah, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isiah 41:10.

Now, we can discuss what causes depression with a single scripture: Anxiety (fear) in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad, Proverbs 12:25 NKJV.  Why do we ignore this impactful scripture? It is not complicated.  Fear causes depression and it’s not from God, 2 Timnothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  Fears are evil spirits and they need to be prayed out as I said in my last teaching. Prayer – Father God, in the name of Jesus’, I (we) cast out the spirit of fear causing depression and we send it to the dry places (Matthew 12:43).  We pray for healing.

Greatest Fears I See in Ministry

1. Fearing Into the Future – The vast majority of believers cannot identify the fears they are experiencing.  Number one fear is fearing into the future. Examples: Fear of not being loved, fear for our children, fear of losing our jobs, fear of dying, fear of nothing will change, fear of car accidents, fear of dementia, fear of cancer, fear of diets, fear of divorce, fear of being hurt, fear of getting ill, fear of being found out, fear of letting people down, fear of failure, fear of losing our wealth, and many, many more.  All of these are future fears that may never happen.  These future fears cause depression and many other health issues.  

What does stress, anxiety, and fear do to our health? It causes many health issues and especially hyper- tension.  Science tells us stress causes blood vessels to constrict (narrow) as part of the body's "fight-or-flight" response, releasing hormones like adrenaline that tighten vessels and raise blood pressure; while helpful short-term, chronic stress keeps vessels constricted, increasing strain on the heart and risk of high blood pressure, inflammation, and heart disease, leading to poor circulation and other vascular issues. So, fear causes high blood pressure.  119 million people in America have high blood pressure.  Do you see the correlation between fear and high blood pressure? It’s a mind-body connection.  What we think can lead to health issues.

An Unloving Spirt – Meaning, we don’t feel loved, not worthy to be loved, don’t love ourselves, don’t love others.  There is progression of an unloving spirit:  1. Feeling unloved. 2. Rejection. 3. Anger. 4. Unforgiveness. 5. Bitterness. 6. Addictions.  Addictions try to fill the void of feeling unloved. Unloving brings high level present and future fears.  It starts with our fathers who are tasked by God to love and nurture the wife and children.  This includes a failure by the father to say these simple words, “I love you” throughout the lives of the children and the wife.  Many say “I know my dad loved me,” but did he declare the words “I love you?”  My dad did not say “I love you” once in my lifetime.  He never gave me a hug or said I was a good boy.

For many of us, a strong spirit of fear has infiltrated our lives over the years.  We have become one with fear and we cannot overcome this fear (sin).   Fear will not give the person the ability to believe they can be loved or worthy to be loved and they remain in captivity because of an unloving spirit.

“Perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” 1 John 4:18. We must teach others how to overcome the fear that is so damaging to their health.  It means making ourselves available for prayer so we can be delivered from an unloving spirt. We can do this by declaring our love to God out loud and receiving His perfect love every day.  Have you consistently told God how much you love Him?  Do you know how much God loves you?  God loved us so much He sent His only Son to die on the cross.  This simple uncomplicated prayer below can and will heal you.

Prayer – Father God, in the name of Jesus, I receive Your perfect love and I cast out all the fears that have caused depression and the unloving spirit. Amen!

There are many, many fear related sicknesses and diseases.  We must address each and every fear related symptom with effective prayer, James 5:16.

We and our children are being destroyed because we lack knowledge according to God’s Word, Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Lastly, I want to share a testimony of a person I have been ministering to for about four months.  I will list each issue and the healing outcome. This person was open to learning about the causes of his health issues from Biblical truth.  He believed and made himself available for prayer.  Our mind and body has to catch up with the prayer we received for healing.  Understand that healing is a process.  Very seldom is one healed immediately. 

Pimples in Back of head – Fear related.  He had this issue for 12 years.  The sores are gone

High Blood Pressure – This is one of most difficult things to be healed from.  This is a work in progress because it is a stronghold.  These only come out with prayer and fasting, Matthew 17:21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  It takes ongoing, consistent prayer for breakthrough.

Hemorrhoids – This is an anger issue.  He had hemorrhoids for 20 years. The hemorrhoids are gone.

Lower Leg and Foot Numbness and Pain in Foot (neuropathy) – Primarily from bitterness at self, others, and, organizations such as churches, employers, governments, political parties, and others.  Bitterness causes Cortisol drip which destroys soft tissue such as nerves and bone marrow which produces white T cells for the immune system. 90% healed.  Key prayer was forgiveness for self and others.

Lower Back Pain – Prayed away the fear nesting in the lower back causing muscle inflammation that was pressing against the nerves resulting in pain in the lower back.  Pain was gone within 24 hours.

Shoulder pain next to joint – Same as the lower back prayer. Paing gone within 48 hours.

Plantar fasciitis – Same as the lower back prayer.  Pain gone in one week.

Arthritis – Arthritis in the hands.  Caused by bitterness unforgiveness of people. 80% healed.

Dark Knees – Specific to Hispanics and blacks.  I had to do research to know what caused this. Through asking questions, I found that he, his dad, and grandfather had dark crusty knees.  It was inherited according to scriptures telling us the consequences of sin, Exodus 20:5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.  (Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9) All because of sin (immorality) and iniquity (deep-seated immorality.  This is a perpetual generations curse until the curse is broken by prayer.  The prayer to cancel the curse of dark knees or any generations issue is:  Father God, in Jesus’ name, we cancel this generational curse and as a partaker of this generational curse. We pray for healing from the curse.   He was healed of 30 years of dark knees!  Same prayer for any generational curse.

The point in sharing this testimony is we all can be healed just as this gentleman was healed. Jesus taught, but His prayer for healing and healing testimonies brought in thousands. Acts 4:4 However, many of those who heard the word believed (and were healed); and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.  Start a prayer and healing ministry and you won’t be able to hold the thousands who will come to be healed.

The Spiritual Battle – We are losing the spiritual battle because we fight in the flesh.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against (spiritual) principalities, against (spiritual) powers, against the (spiritual) rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, Ephesians 6:12.  We have not been taught to battle in the spirit with Biblical scripture and prayer. Tony 2-5-2026