A glance at the unread email count of your work inbox, or the double-sided A4 to do list that you've yet to complete may fill you with dispondency. Or maybe it's a more significant life to do list - get married, start a family, get your dream job - that appears to be forever out of reach.
When we look at the plans we have for our own lives, and even when we think about the ones God has for us, it's easy to become overwhelmed and consider giving up. Whatever you feel that you don't have the strength to do, you can turn to God in prayer and ask Him to help you find a way through.
Here are four prayers for the times you feel like giving up and want to ask God for help but don't have the words.
Dear sovereign God,
The defence of those who trust in you and the strength of those who suffer: look with mercy on our affliction and deliver us through our mighty Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
- churchofengland.org
O Lord,
We call upon You in our time of sorrow, that You give us the strength and will to bear our heavy burdens, until we can again feel the warmth and love of Your divine compassion. Be mindful of us and have mercy on us while we struggle to comprehend life's hardships. Keep us ever in Your watch, till we can walk again with light hearts and renewed spirits. Amen.
The same everlasting Father who cares for me today will take care of me tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield me from suffering, or He will give me unfailing strength to bear it. I put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations, and say continually: "The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in Him and I am helped. He is not only with me but in me, and I in Him."
- Adapted from St. Francis de Sales
Dear God,
I ask you to fill me with the knowledge of your will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that I may live a worthy life and please you in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in my knowledge of you, being strengthened with all power according to your glorious might so that I may have great endurance and patience. I give joyful thanks to you, the one who has qualified me to share in the inheritance of your holy people in the kingdom of light. Amen.
- Inspired by Colossians 1:9-12
Dear Jesus,
Sometimes the day can't pass quickly enough, while others fly by at lightning speed. I can't seem to keep up with the pace of this world. I'm tired, Lord. My heart is weary and my spirit is weak. I'm trying my hardest to take the next step, to keep trying to move on. But between me and you, Lord, I feel like giving up. Help me remember the reason I began. Help me see the purpose behind Your plan. Provide the necessary grace, keep me set upon Your face to find strength for that next step, to discover faith, to keep trying to pause for this moment and then move on.
In Jesus' Holy name, Amen.
