Part 1
God, I confess that there are moments when I cannot sense you near, times when anxiety and frustration overwhelm, and I find no help or consolation. I wish that I dwelt in a state where my hope and my confidence were always rooted and certain, my thoughts unclouded. But it is not always so.
Here I drag my heavy heart to see if you will meet me in my place of doubt and fear. I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief. For where else but to you will I go with my worries? You alone have the words of eternal life.
This I know to be true, my Lord and my God: You are not angered by my worries and my fears, for they have often been the very things that lead me to press closer into you, seeking the comfort of your presence.
In your presence, I can offer my anxieties knowing you are never threatened by them.
They do not change your truth.
My doubts cannot unseat your promises.
You are a rock, Jesus.
You alone are strong enough to carry the weight of my troubled thoughts.
O Lord, let these fears never compel me to hide my heart from you. Let them rather lead me to begin holy conversations with you, make them into invitations to be present with you. Let me despair of my own knowledge and control and instead seek your face, knowing that when I plead for security and for answers, what I most need is your presence.
Take some time to confess your fears to the Lord now
Part 2
In a world so interconnected, our anxious hearts are pummeled by an endless barrage of troubling news. We are daily aware of more grief, O Lord, than we can rightly consider, or more suffering and scandal than we can respond to, of more hostility, hatred, horror, and injustice than we can engage with compassion.
But you, O Jesus, are not disquieted by such news of cruelty and terror and war. You are neither anxious nor overwhelmed. You carried the full weight of the suffering of a broken world when you hung upon the cross, and you carry it still.
When distress unsettles us, remind us that we are but small and finite creatures, never designed to carry all of the burdens of the world, for our arms are too short and our strength is too small.
God, you have never asked any one of us to undertake more than your grace will enable us to fulfill. Let us cast our burdens on the strong shoulders of the one who alone is able to bear them up.
Take some time to praise Jesus for holding all things together by the word of his power
*This prayer was part of our recent Women’s Discipleship Event and was compiled using excerpts from the book Every Moment Holy. Every Moment Holy is a book of prayers meant to reminds us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose even when, especially when, we are too busy or too caught up in our busyness to notice. The series features two hardcover volumes as well as a pocket edition of Volume I. Click below to learn more or purchase books.