July 17: When Prayer Feels Like a Wall
You’ve been praying every morning. You’ve been asking God to take away your defects. And honestly, it feels like talking to the ceiling. Is anyone listening?
“How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;”
David asked the same thing. How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face? These words are in the Bible on purpose. God put them there so people like you would know that feeling far from Him is not the same as being far from Him.
Look at what David does. He doesn’t stop praying. He prays the complaint. He tells God exactly how it feels. That’s a real prayer. Maybe one of the most honest kinds.
Some people think humility means pretending to be fine with God. It’s the other way around. Pride hides its real feelings to look spiritual. Humility tells the truth, even when the truth is, “I don’t feel You at all right now.”
Dry seasons happen to everyone who prays for long. They don’t mean you’re doing it wrong. They don’t mean God has left. Sometimes the work He’s doing is deep underground, where you can’t see it yet, like roots growing before anything shows above the soil.
Keep the habit. Pray anyway. Read anyway. Go to the meeting anyway. Call your sponsor and say, “Prayer feels dry.” People who’ve been at this a while will nod. They’ve been there.
If you use Steps & Scripture, you can tell Jimmy or Sarah about the dry spell too. Sometimes saying it to someone makes it lighter.
And read the rest of Psalm 13 in your own Bible. It’s short. David’s prayer doesn’t end in the dark. By the last verses he’s talking about trust and singing. He didn’t get there by pretending. He got there by being honest all the way through.
One thing today
Write your own “How long, Lord?” prayer. Three or four honest lines about how prayer feels right now. Then read the end of Psalm 13 and see where David lands.
A prayer
Lord, how long? It feels like You’re far away. I’m telling You the truth because You already know it. I’m going to keep showing up. Please meet me here. Amen.
The Start Here page has some simple ways to begin praying when you don’t know how.
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