Hear my prayer, O my God, let my cry come to You
Don’t leave me, I beg You, in distress and despair
Listen to me, hear me, see my need, my desperate need
You know my darkness
The days when my hope drifts away like smoke
When my faith burns away in fiery doubt
When my love shrivels like dry grass
When my hunger for You disappears into anorexic torpor
My spirit groans, even my body aches
With the pain of abandonment, desertion
I am reduced to a small creature of desert wastelands
My peace has taken flight
I lie sleepless and discontent
Wondering why I cannot be better than my worst parts
“My days are like an evening shadow
I wither away like grass”
Wondering why You cannot make me better
You could, You know, if You wanted to
Do I have to remind You that You are God Almighty
I capitalize Your name and even Your pronouns
To remind myself
You are God forever, almighty forever, my Savior forever
You do not forget me, You do not ignore me
Though many are the times when I find that hard to believe
I am of Your people; You are my God
You are victorious, glorious
You do hear me, see me, love me
Let me record it here and now: God loves me, saves me
God knows me, hears me, frees me
So I will praise and worship God and God alone
Some days, I feel as old as the earth that You created
As alone as the stars that You made
I will die, but You endure
I will die, but I live forever in and through Your love
You are steadfast in love, enduring in faithfulness, eternal
And so I will be secure, I will be established in Your presence
I will be holy as You are holy
In the meantime, hear me and help me, O my God. Amen.