When You Are Lost
30 May
At my grandmother’s funeral, the priest asked us, “When God feels far away, ask yourself this: ‘Who moved?’ for I can assure you the answer is not God.”
Sometimes, when we are lost, we turn away from God. Sometimes we WANT to turn towards Him, but are lost at how to do so.
I recently found a prayer that voices my thoughts and feelings during the times when I feel I have left God behind and need to pull myself closer to my anchor.
Prayer of Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Does in fact please you.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
The next time you feel as if God has left your side, ask yourself, “Who has moved?” Because I can assure you, the answer is not “God.”
I command you – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9 NLT
Lord,
We ask You to remind us how to draw near You when we have distanced ourselves from Your grace. Remind us to trust in You, even when we feel there is a risk in getting let down. You always save us. You always catch us when we fall. You are always there for us, we just have to reach for You and pull You into our hearts. Remind us that You have not left us, we simply need to move closer.
This we ask in Jesus’ name.
When you feel far from God, how do you draw yourself back to Him?
I’m there, right now. Your post has made me cry because some how I got off track and got too busy with “life” and now I’m back on my knees. Thanks for reminding me that He hasn’t gone anywhere, He’s still by my side.
This is very precious, thanks for sharing.
Remembering by reading over old journals, prayers etc. reminds me that God is working whether I see it or not. Thanks for that prayer.
Thank you. I needed this today.
Thank you for this!! I needed the reminder! Have a blessed day!
Bless you for this post.
what i do when i feel God is far away? i make the move of going back to where im supposed to be with Him..in prayer, in reading the Word, in all of life – because He is in all of them. Yeah, it was I who moved. He is a rock, a strong, unshakeable, immovable Rock and He never gets tired of staying by my side even if i kept leaving Him behind.
This is a wonderful and heart-filled prayer. Thank you for sharing it with me. Love and hugs, Lynn
Your post touches my heart, and when I read that prayer, tears in my eyes…I know that he is always there,opening his arms to wait for me back.
Most of the time I feel distant from Him, I start praying. I know He is there to answer my prayers.
Thank you so much for sharing from your heart, CJ.