A Prayer for When Faith Feels Empty

Lord, even my prayers feel hollow now. I open my Bible and the words slide off, I sit in worship and feel nothing, I talk to You and it seems like the ceiling is all that hears me. The depression has reached even into my faith, and that scares me more than anything.

I confess I am afraid this emptiness means You have left, or that I was never really Yours to begin with. I measure my faith by my feelings and the meter reads zero.

So I come anyway, dry and doubting, because I have nowhere better to bring this. Even a faith reduced to showing up is still a faith turned toward You.

Hold the part of me that cannot feel You right now. Remind me that faith is not an emotion to be summoned but a thread that holds even when it goes slack. Keep me coming back to You by habit when desire has gone, and let that be enough.

A desperate father once cried to You, I believe, help my unbelief, and You did not turn him away. I pray the very same broken words now.

I surrender my empty, going-through-the-motions faith into Your hands, trusting that You hold me even when I cannot feel my grip on You. Faith this thin is still faith, and You are still faithful. Amen.