I wholeheartedly believe that Jesus meets us where we are on our journey of life and faith - coming alongside us just like he did with the disciples walking along the road to Emmaus after the resurrection, to listen and share (Luke 24:13-35). And I wholeheartedly believe that God wants to hear our questions and have us share the whole of ourselves through prayer. (See any of the Psalms, but here are a few good examples of the great range: Psalm 5, 19, 47, 61, 86, 100).
There are days on the journey when trust, peace, and compassion come naturally and easily. And then there are those days on the journey when gray skies (literal or figurative) dampen moods, grumpiness lingers a little too long after getting up on the “wrong side of the bed”, and gratitude seems just beyond our reach. This is a prayer for that gray kind of day:
God - I don’t feel that I have anything worth saying to You today. Negative words and emotions are rearing their ugly heads, though I want so much to be filled with Your peace and hope. There is too much to do, too much of the weight of the world weighing on my shoulders, too much pain in those I love, too much whining from my toddler...
There is just too much.
God, let me notice Your presence with me, even in the gloom, because You are the steady one - the one who provides a solid place to rest, the one who always loves. Help me to notice, and move me by small steps toward gratitude. And if those small steps even seem too much, just help me to breathe. To be. To remember that even in this, I am loved.
Amen.
Wherever you are on your journey today, I hope that you will share it with God in prayer.
