My Honest Prayer

Reading other people's honest words is very therapeutic for me. I have been praying all day long and basically the words have been the same. I thought I'd write them as they came. I hope and pray someone else is encouraged by the honesty and openness in this prayer. I hope that whoever is reading this knows that God is always there for us no matter how much we're struggling or how much pain we're in at the time. Just be honest with Him and ask for His help. Praising Him in the Storm is a lesson I've been trying to learn for years, but today I realized sometimes I need His help to even do that.

Lord, you know this fear and this pain that hold me back. You know this moment, I stand in Your presence, wanting nothing more than to praise You in the midst of pain and heartache and confusion. But, Lord, You also know that the chains that bind me keep me mute, the fear and the pain they hold my tongue. Lord, I have no words of praise or thanksgiving. But, Lord I do have this prayer. Break every chain of fear, doubt and insecurity, soothe the pain and release the praises within my soul. You alone know my heart; You alone know the depths of the pain and the heaviness of the chains that hold me back. But, You alone also hold the power over darkness, fear and pain. You alone can release me from these chains of shame and insecurity. I wholly believe that You will do this good thing in me, but for now I humbly stand in Your presence without the words to express praise or thanksgiving, but with a heart that beats the very praise of my Savior. When the darkness encompasses me from the outside, I simply turn my eyes to the only true and perfect Light, my Jesus. When my tongue is held still with fear and pain, You hear my heart’s cry to honor You in all things. What people see as my strength, I know is simply Your strength coming through in my weakness. When fear overtakes me and makes me want to run and hide in the safety of the shadows, You shine Your Light into those shadows and chase the darkness away. You give me strength when there is none found in me. You are my Rock, my Lifeline, my reason for living; You alone, Lord, are the reason that I come to You with the pain and the fear and the shame and the heaviness. You, Lord, can relieve me of this burden and hold me strong when I must forge through valleys with heaviness upon me. You, Lord, are the only Constant, the only Forever, the only One that will never leave, never forsake or never cease loving me. You, Lord, are the only One that I can depend on in the moments of strength and weakness, the only One that loves me in darkness and in light, in valleys and on mountaintops. Lord, You are my all-in-all.

With all my heart,
Melissa