How Do I Pray When Life Comes Against Me?

Are you experiencing grief in your life right now? Does it feel like your plans have been snatched from you? Is your life not what you expected? Are you struggling to catch your breath and keep your head above the water of dashed hopes and forgotten dreams?

First of all...my heart breaks for what you're going through.

I am so sorry this has happened to you. Sometimes life happens despite our best plans, and I know this is not what you planned. I am sorry.

Secondly...be honest with God.

Are you angry? Tell Him. Are you frustrated? Tell Him. Are you lonely? Tell Him. Be totally open and transparent when you pray, God wants you to share what you're feeling, He wants to hear about every emotion and your deepest needs, don't hold back, and don't limit your prayer to short, compact, religious words.

Just talk to Him, as if you're talking to your best friend.

Open your heart to God in its complete and rawest form because that is what God wants. It's okay to express your anger, your frustration, your fears, your hurt, your deepest longings and emotions because God understands. Prayer is simply having a conversation with your Father, so it doesn't matter how you say it, just say it and God will fill in the rest.

Thirdly...my advice to you is...ignore well meaning people when they inadvertently judge your situation.

We all have issues and problems, and unfortunately those things color our advice and the way we deal with things. Everyone will have an opinion about your situation. But...Only God's opinion matters. And God loves you deeply, and truly, and without hesitation or hangups. You are His best creation, You are His daughter or son, You are His bride. The Bible says in Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."

It doesn't matter what other people think you should do, or should have done...the only One who matters is God.

Nestle in close to Him, pray and seek His perfect will, be open and honest in your conversation with Him, live every day for Him and with Him, allow Him to be your comfort and strength, and one day when you pass through the valley and are standing on the hilltop you will be able to look back and know that God's perfect will for your life has come to pass.