Praying for you if you’re lonelier than sad right now

We all feel it from time to time if we’re honest.  Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking you’re the only one.  Feeling lonelier than sad is a frightfully desolate place the soul comes to rest; a place resembling anything other than rest.  And don’t let anyone gaslight you into thinking you’re ‘less than’ for feeling perfectly human.

Lord, oh dear God,

You know so well that restlessness of soul begotten of the Gethsemane place.  You know those blood-shaped tears, and You know them ever so personally.

As human beings, we think we have the market cornered on feeling abandoned, and yet You were there to taste that sort of forsakenness Yourself.  You know sorrow like we rarely encounter it, and still You know that we DO encounter it.

This prayer is for that one right now, whose heart is broken and whose soul is torn in an anguish they cannot quell.  You are there with them, right now, by Your Presence, by Your Spirit, in that bout of spiritual attack that leaves them feeling utterly forsaken.

Remind them now, Lord, via this prayer, that they’re not alone, that they’re not forsaken.  Be with them in their lonelier-than-sad kind of sorrow and help them get the relief they so sorely seek.

Beckon to them hope for the coming day, that Your rescue is on its way and that their joy is set to return.  Abide with them even as they abide with You in this bitter and terrifying lament.

As the weeps turn to wails, as the reflex shivers and sniffs ebb and flow, as the thoughts come in to distract and destroy, Lord, come!

Keep them safe from harm, Lord, as You know our human capacity to render to enemy what can never be his to take.  As the stormfront of depression makes its hit, give to the one I pray for some testimony of their ability to withstand its force.

As those winds roar, Lord God, make it so they have a faith within that rises up in spite of their felt weakness.  Help them take to the shelter You have prepared for them; the shelter of a kind person, who may listen, notwithstanding Your covenant and faithful shelter — as they may encamp under the shadow of Your wings.

Present them with a new hope, now, Lord.

In and through the name of Jesus,

AMEN.

Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash