A Prayer for Hope When Feeling Hopeless

God, I have run out of hope. I can say it plainly because You already see it. The future looks like a gray wall, and I cannot picture anything good on the other side of it. My chest feels heavy and my prayers come out flat.

I confess I have stopped expecting things to change. Somewhere along the way I quietly decided that this is just how it will always be, and that belief has become its own kind of prison.

But I am here, still breathing, still turning toward You, and that small turning is all I have to offer. Meet me in it. You are the One who calls light out of darkness and life out of dead ground.

You said that hope placed in You does not put us to shame, that You can fill the empty with joy and peace again. I do not feel it yet, but I am asking You to begin.

I lay down the verdict I passed on my own life. I will let You write a different ending. Loosen the grip of this heaviness one finger at a time.

You are the God of hope, and hope is exactly what I lack. Pour into me what I cannot make for myself, and let one spark be enough to start. Amen.