A Prayer for When You Feel Disconnected From God

Sometimes the hardest part isn't doubt. It's praying into what feels like an empty room.


God,

I don't feel You.

I'm saying that plainly
because pretending otherwise
hasn't helped either of us.

I still show up.
I still say the words.
But something that used to be warm
has gone quiet,
and I can't tell if You moved
or I did.

I've tried to fix it.
More discipline. More effort.
More guilt, which never works
and I keep trying anyway.

If this distance is something I caused,
show me.
If it isn't,
help me stop treating it as evidence against myself.

I'm not asking for a feeling.
I've stopped bargaining for one.
I'm asking for the willingness
to keep speaking into the quiet
a little longer.

Let me be honest here
instead of performing a closeness I don't have.
Let doubt be something I bring You,
not something I hide from You.

And if You are near
in a way I can't sense right now —
that's alright.
I'll keep talking.

Amen.


"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
— Psalm 22:1


You're welcome to sit with this as long as you need.