A Prayer for When You Are Tired of Being Strong

Father, I am so tired of holding everything together. Everyone leans on me, everyone assumes I am fine, and I have become so good at being the strong one that no one ever thinks to ask how I am. The smile is heavy. The keeping up is breaking me down.

I confess I built this role myself, afraid that if I crack even a little, everything I am carrying for others will come crashing down. So I keep performing strength while quietly running on empty.

So I let the mask slip in front of You, the only One I do not have to be strong for. You already see the exhaustion behind the capable face.

Give me permission to not be okay. Let me admit my own needs out loud to someone who can hold them. Remind me that letting others carry me sometimes is not failure, it is the way You designed us to live, in shared weight.

Your word says Your power is made perfect in weakness, and that when I am weak, then I am truly strong in You. Let me stop pretending and lean my full weight on that.

I surrender the heavy crown of being strong for everyone. You take it. Let me rest in being held instead of holding, even for one honest moment. With You, I am allowed to be weak. Amen.