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Hi there. Welcome to Well Lit Soul. Where we seek God, face darkness, and shine brighter.  This season of the blog is all about encouragement. So, today’s blog is called: Relatable Prayers.

If I had to choose an area of my faith that is most challenging it would definitely be prayer. It’s been that way at least since I became a Christian at 12 almost 13 years old. Even 15 years later, in the midst of my storms, it still had not gotten better. There were a few years where I didn’t pray at all because I didn’t really have anything to say to God. 

But it’s interesting because at that same time, I was reading through the Psalms and there were times when it felt like I was looking at a mirror. These descriptive passages captured exactly what I was thinking and feeling. Which helped me feel seen but also gave me hope that things would get better knowing that the psalms of sorrow and anguish were directly surrounded by psalms of praise and adoration. 

So, I’m going to share a few that helped me pray when I had nothing to say and encouraged me to keep walking with God one more day.

Psalm 22 is first and it is quite long, so I will only share verses 1-5 and 19-21 but I encourage you to read the whole thing.

1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me.

Next is Psalm 42, which is one of my favorites because it is the source of one of my favorite hymns, “As the Deer”. In fact, Tori Kelly has a song from her gospel album called Psalm 42 that has encouraged me countless times over the years. But back to the psalm, this one is also somewhat long, so I will share the first five verses.

1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”

4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.

Psalm 61 is the last one I will share today and again, it’s a bit too long to read completely, but I will share four verses here and encourage you to read the full thing.

1 Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. 

These Psalms kept me going when my spirit was low. I used them as a way to talk to God when my heart and mind weren’t in it. I held on to them on my walk with God that was more like a crawl. And through continued reading, prayer, and general work to better understand God, I eventually was able to stand, walk, and even run again. And now that I’m here, stronger than ever, I hope to be able to share the lessons I’ve learned to encourage others to stay on the path. 

Connection Question: What scriptures encourage you to pray when you’re not sure what to say? How did they help you hang on?

Let me know in the comments, I’d love to connect with you about it.