When it’s hard to pray

Michael Summers writes: “I struggle to pray sometimes.  The words I need to say so desperately evade me.  My emotions seem to clog my consciousness. Last week, as I near the end of a short run, I stumbled over a crack in the pavement, and fell hard. Aching and stunned, I reached for the cellphone that had flown from my hand. Neighbors, often out working in their yards, were away or had gone inside. Children had finished their play. My wife, less than two hundred feet away, did not know I had fallen. Briefly, I feared that I would not be able to get up. My head too had struck the concrete and I feared that I might lose consciousness. First-aid training received years ago trained me to evaluate myself before moving.   Slowly, cautiously, I struggled to my feet and stumbled the few remaining steps to home. The fear that no one would hear or notice I had fallen had frightened me.  I prayed in that moment for consciousness and lucidity.  But sometimes, it is hard to pray.  I, and perhaps you, wonder if God hears and if he notices. Prayers like Psalm 102 tell us that others in millenia past have shared our fears. Narratives in Scripture describe frustrated faith, but also describe the grieving love of a Creator-God who pursues justice and who does notice the pain of the assaulted, the agony of the deserted, and the grief of those whose loved ones have died. Those prayers and narratives help me regain my voice. I hope that they will help you, too.”

Read Michael’s prayer here.