A Prayer for Loneliness in a Marriage

Father, I am not alone, and yet I have never felt lonelier. We share a roof, a bed, a calendar, and somehow a wall has gone up between us that I cannot see but feel in every silent dinner.

I confess I have stopped reaching, tired of being the only one who tries, and I have started building a quiet life inside my own head where it hurts less to expect nothing.

So I bring You this marriage as it actually is, not the photo, the real thing, distant and weary. You are not embarrassed by what is broken. You are the God who makes dry bones live.

Soften both of us. Where words have run out, send understanding. Help us bear with one another in love, and forgive as You forgave, so this distance does not become a habit we cannot break.

I lay this loneliness at Your feet instead of letting it harden me. Be the third strand in this rope, the one that does not snap, and draw us back toward each other, one honest moment at a time. Amen.