When You Can't Pray, God Hears You Anyway

O Lord, all my longing is known to you; 

     my sighing is not hidden from you.

(Psalm 38:9, NRSV)

Sometimes I can’t find the words to pray, O God.

My heart is heavy, weighed down.

The emotions and feelings swirl in dizzying chaos.

I’m sad – our world has been turned upside down.

I’m afraid – this is a really big deal. 

   (I know, you tell me not to be afraid. But this stuff is scary).

I’m anxious – no one has ever faced this before.

I’m angry – people are hoarding toilet paper. TOILET PAPER!

I’m worried – 

  for my wife and children, 

    for my parents and in-laws,

      for my siblings and extended family, 

         for my church,

            for my community,

         for the newly jobless,

      for strained and closed businesses,

    for the nations of the world,

  and even for me.

I’m restless – what can I do?

I’m on edge – what’s going to happen next?

I have all these things swirling around

in my heart and my mind, O God.

And I can’t put them into words.

But then, I realize that you already know.

O Lord, all my longing is known to you;

     my sighing is not hidden from you.

You know the deepest thoughts of my heart – 

the ones I hide from everyone else,

even the ones I have never been able to admit to myself.

When I can’t find the words to pray, it’s okay,

because your Spirit intercedes

with sighs too deep for words.

When my sighs and groans are all I can offer you,

you hear me still.

And you know.

Thank you, Lord, for listening to my heart

even when I don’t know what to say.

Thank you, Lord, for answering the prayers

that I don’t even know how to lift up.

Thank you, Lord, for knowing me through and through,

and for loving me eternally.

Amen.

During the season of Lent, I am "Praying with David," using prayers from the psalms as inspiration for personal prayers.