A Prayer for Rest When Exhausted

Lord, I am worn down to nothing. My shoulders ache, my eyes burn, and somewhere under all of it is a tiredness that sleep alone does not seem to touch. I have been running on empty for longer than I want to admit.

I confess I built this exhaustion myself, saying yes too often, believing the world would fall apart if I stopped, treating rest as something I would get to later. Later never came, and now I am here, hollow.

So I drag myself to You, not polished, not productive, just spent. You do not love me for what I produce. You love me when I am useless and still.

Teach me to lay this weight down, not just for the night but as a way of living. Show me what I am allowed to release. Refill what these months have drained.

You called the weary and heavy laden to come to You and find rest for their souls, the deep rest underneath the tiredness of the body. I come now, asking for exactly that.

Hold me while I sleep and mend what I cannot mend myself. Let me wake lighter than I lay down. Be my rest, Lord, the kind that lasts. Amen.