Father God,

Today, I pray for those who don’t have words to express their present struggle. For some, their lives have collapsed upon them, slamming them to the ground and crushing them suddenly and by surprise. For some, it is not the suddenness but the unrelenting nature of their struggle, feeling as though their prayers are daily repeating the same thing over and over. For some, they feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of simultaneous challenges leaving them frozen in their tracks and in what to pray.

In those times, You promised that Your own Spirit would guide our words. You promised that the groans and cries of our heart would be heard through Your Spirit’s work. You promised to catch our tears in a bottle, to provide our daily bread, to lift us up when we feel like we cannot get up on our own.

Hear today, the deepest, most painful cries of Your children’s souls and be present to comfort, to lift up, to heal, to provide, to strengthen… to love us. Have mercy on those who can barely breathe through their circumstances much less form words to express the weight and darkness of their struggles.

In Christ’s Name,

Amen.