If You Are in Crisis, Start Here

First, the help that is real

If you are in immediate danger, or if you are thinking about ending your life, please stop reading and reach a person now. This is more important than anything else on this page, and more important than any verse we could give you.

• Open our help now page. It is written for this moment, with the numbers you need and plain next steps.
• If you might act on a thought to harm yourself or someone else, call your local emergency number. In the United States and Canada that is 911.
• United States: call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It is free, private, and open at every hour.
• Canada: call or text 988.
• United Kingdom and Ireland: Samaritans, 116 123, free at any hour.
• Australia: Lifeline, 13 11 14.
• Anywhere else: the directory at findahelpline.com lists crisis lines by country. If you do not know the number, ask someone near you to help you find it.
• If you are not safe at home, because of violence or abuse, call your emergency number, and in the United States the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.

Tell someone who is physically near you, a family member, a neighbor, a friend, a pastor, a coworker, that you are not okay. You do not have to explain it well. "I am not safe tonight" is enough. If you can, move away from anything you might use to hurt yourself, and stay in the company of another person until you have spoken with a crisis line or a doctor.

You are worth the call. You are not a burden. Reaching out is not weakness; it is one of the bravest things a human being does.

Then, a word from us

We are not a crisis service and we cannot replace one. We are people who love Jesus and want you to live. If you have made the call, or you are safe for now, or you are reading from somewhere past the worst edge of this, here is what we would like you to hear.

What you are feeling is real. Pain this deep is not a failure of faith, and it is not a character flaw. People who love God have walked through despair, including some of the people we meet in the Bible. Elijah, after a great victory, sat under a bush and asked to die. God did not rebuke him. He sent food, let him sleep, and spoke to him gently. The psalmists wrote of being in a pit, of feeling forsaken, of their souls being cast down. None of it was edited out of Scripture. God allowed His people's worst nights to be recorded, so that we would know we are not the first and not alone.

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

God is near to those with a broken heart. Not far, not disappointed, not waiting for you to be better. Near.

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

A horrible pit, miry clay. That is how the psalmist describes the place God lifted him from. It is a description of exactly what depression and despair can feel like, and it is Scripture. It means those feelings may be named in the presence of God.

Why it feels so dark right now

Despair has a way of telling lies with great confidence. It says that this will never change. It says you are a burden to the people you love. It says that nobody would miss you, that nothing can help, that the future holds nothing. These are not truth; they are symptoms. They are the voice of pain, and the pain can be treated. Many who have felt exactly this are alive and glad today, and some of them will tell you they cannot believe how close they came to missing it.

Two things can be true at once: you may be in a great darkness, and the darkness may lift. Often the very moment a person reaches out is the moment the lie loosens its grip.

Help of many kinds is good

It is not unspiritual to seek medical or psychological help. A doctor, a therapist, or a counselor who understands your faith can treat depression, trauma, anxiety, and the thoughts that come with them, the way a doctor treats a broken bone. Taking medicine, if it is prescribed, is not a sign of weak faith. Many believers find that God works through good care. If you can, make an appointment this week, or ask a friend to make it with you.

Tell a pastor or a trusted believer. A good one will not judge you, will pray with you, and will help you find professional help. If your first attempt to speak to someone goes poorly, try another. Not everyone knows how to respond, and that is not a verdict on your worth.

If you cannot pray

You do not have to. You can say a single word: help. The Bible says the Holy Spirit prays for us when we cannot find the words. You are not asked for eloquence or even faith that feels strong. You may borrow someone else's sentence if it helps.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

Cast your burden. The Bible does not say you must carry it alone and in silence. It says to put it down on the One who is able to bear it, and the people He sends. If you want a prayer, here is one in our words.

One hour at a time

When the future looks impossible, shrink the question. You do not have to survive the year. You have to get through the next hour. Drink some water. Move toward another person. Wait until morning to make big decisions. Sleep, if you can. Tomorrow's pain will not be exactly like today's.

Jesus invited the weary and heavy laden to come to Him.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

He knows what it is to be in anguish. He wept. He was in anguish in a garden. He cried out on the cross asking why He had been forsaken. He is not unacquainted with the dark. You can bring your night to someone who has been there.

If you are worried about someone else

If a friend or family member has told you they are thinking of suicide, take it seriously. Stay with them, ask them directly if they are thinking of ending their life, listen without arguing, and help them reach a crisis line or emergency services. Do not leave them alone if they are in immediate danger. Encourage them to see a doctor. You do not have to fix everything; you only have to stay and connect them to help.

When you are ready

When the immediate danger has passed, we would love to walk with you, gently and without agenda. Living Bread is a place where you can be prayed for by real people, including without sharing your name, and where the family of Christ holds the weary. There is a button in the app labeled help now, and there are rooms for the ones who are carrying more than they can bear. How Living Bread walks with you explains. But nothing about the app replaces a crisis line, a doctor, or a person who can sit next to you. That comes first.

And the rest of this guide will be here when you are ready, with no hurry. Jesus is not in a hurry either. He is patient with the weary.

Where to go next

More on the site: Help nowHelp near meHealing and hopePrayers for every needAsk for prayerFind a church

Back to the whole guide: How to come to Christ