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Have you ever experienced a moment of realization during prayer or journaling?
As you know, I am a big proponent of prayer journaling and have written many posts on the topic. But every so often, I have a moment that can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit.
Where I do not have control of my pen.
So today, in a moment of vulnerability and obedience, I’m sharing my prayer journal entry.
It all started because I was feeling so frustrated with myself–my diet has been horrible, I’m not getting enough sleep, I’m procrastinating, I’m burnt out with homeschooling, I’m yelling at my kids and quite frankly, I’ve not been having quiet time with the Lord.
I’m desperate for a savior, you guys. Like–I literally cannot do this on my own.
Believe me, I’ve tried.
I cried out to the Lord–and he spoke to me and provided me with such clarity about WHY I’ve been striving in my own strength. He assured me he hasn’t given up on me.
Then He told me–“Now go and tell them.”
Ok, Lord–I hear you.
So here it is…word for word–my prayer is that you will be spoken to in a fresh new way.
A Prayer of Desperation:
“Father, What do I do when you feel far away? When I’ve let go of your lifeline and slipped too far down on my tether?
Now I am once again facing an uphill climb.
The long assent back to where I already was.
My yo-yo faith.
Father, break me–once and for all. Break me in such a way that that I will never again be stupid enough to think that I can do it in my own strength.
It all feels so impossible, really–how can I ever break these old habits?
bad friend–greedy girl–unqualified
The old comfortable, familiar insults come bubbling up to the surface; from the dark place I hid them the last time I slipped.
Isn’t it strange how even though I know it’s going to hurt in a way that never stops hurting–I still go back–looking for comfort?
A broken women–trying to put herself back together.
What’s the difference between this broken feeling I have right now and wanting God to break me?
One way says, “You’re broken. Let’s put you together and break you again”
A circular hell that never ends.
The other broken–the kind that I crave–is a gentle knowing that I am shattered. God knows where each piece is. He knows, sees, and cherishes each and every bit of my broken-down self.
He says, “Don’t worry, Ally–you don’t have to hold it all together–that’s my job.”
A sweet reminder from my steadfast Savior.
Our enemy is so clever though–he uses our human-ness against us. The need for independence and the desire to be “strong enough.”
The enemy uses these urges to convince me that I can do it on my own.
I am too smart to be tricked again.
But here I sit in my broken circular hell.
I begin the crawl back to Jesus–head down and weak in my fake-strength.
He knows–He has seen–and all along He has been waiting by my side.
Not waiting for me to fail but waiting for me to admit that I am going to keep failing because without Christ in the equation, I am always going to just start the cycle over again in my own strength.
And just like the nature of a circle, I will always end up exactly where I started.
That surly cannot be the plan for my life–“
You are so brave to be so vulnerable by sharing your prayer here. I definitely can relate to this struggle. Will be praying right along with you that the Lord will break off of me any thought that I can operate in my own strength. Thank you for this!
God bless,
Patty
So brave to share such personal feelings. But you have to know so many share these same prayers of desperation. And indeed, I had to go through broken to find just how beautiful I was in Jesus! Blessings!
I have had one those times November 15, 2010. My husband went in for lung surgery. Know come up to, today 2017, we just found out he had a bone infection. My husband has multiple handicaps one being Hemophilia. And with many joint replacement. This is something that, I am not asking why him, i am asking help me help us get through this.
Oh wow, what a beautifully raw and honest post! I love this so much! Thank you for sharing this — it was exactly what I needed to hear today. You really spoke to my heart!
Thank you so much – as a chronic sufferer of panic attacks and stress anxiety after a lengthy suffering that is horrible it finally goes away because
I come back to the Savior and run on a treadmill like a hamster it gradually goes away. Once it is gone “I got this” until the next time – the it hits again, the circle. Your prayer has given me a sense to try to sleep tonight.
Blessings,
Gregory
Yes I can surely relate to this. I went through this with someone that I was trying to help. They had recently became homeless from a fire and I let them move into my home temporarily, later I started noticing a dramatic change in this person it caused me to be very stressed and anxiety attacks,I cried out to the lord to show me the problems and to remove them from my home if what I was thinking was true.He didn’t call me by name he said woman and showed me the answer, This person was addicted to crack and these people are hard to get rid of and they have to ask for help themselves before you can help them, but God knew I was desperate and he helped me right away, because I had been trying to get them to leave by myself to no avail, but that day I cried out Lord help me, show me and he did right then and there, I was admitting that’ I couldn’t do it alone and needed him. The person is still struggling with addiction and I do what I can to help them from a distance, but until they are ready to change themselves I just continue to pray for them and hope it won’t be too late.