Discouragement in Prayer

As I prayed with my friend, I thought to myself, “I am praying into a black hole.” The words bounced back, as if encased in a box, tightly sealed with duck tape, each corner carefully tucked so that the air itself could not escape. Struggling to feel a connection with the Spirit of Jesus, my words kept coming, faith pushing them out, squeezing them from the tube of words coiled up inside me. The words lay there, freshly spoken, apparently as yet unheard, waiting for Jesus . Even as the doubts bullied me, I continued on the path of letting the words spill forward, a path well worn and familiar. The sweet, gentle touch of Jesus came then, and he told me, “Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here.”

He walked beside me in my prayer, picking up the pieces, words torn like so much confetti and tucked them gently into the folds of his robe, treasured, held close, each one answered carefully in his time.

Amen. So be it.