I am a worrier. Are you? Sometimes my heart is so full of worry I can think of nothing else. It is in those times that I need to be reminded of the gospel. I need to remember the truth about who I am in Christ and that He never leaves me alone. I need to lay my worries at the cross and rest in the freedom that Christ has born all my burdens.

Sometimes, I am so overwhelmed by worries and concerns that I just can’t concentrate to pray. I want to pray. I know I need to pray. But I can’t seem to focus my mind.

C.S. Lewis wrote to his friend Malcomb that we should start off prayer with whatever is on our minds, because the very things that distract us will keep us from praying. I’ve learned that when I am worried, I need to pray about each and every thought and feeling on my heart.

I also like to pray through the gospel, to remind myself of what is true. As I pray through what Christ has done for me, it frees me of my burdens. Looking back at God’s grace for me in the past gives me hope for His grace in the future.

Today I wanted to share a prayer I wrote for those of us who carry heavy burdens, who feel weighed down with worries and cares. I pray that this prayer encourages your own heart and leads you to a time of sweet communion through prayer with your Father in Heaven.

My Papa in Heaven,

I come to you with a heart heavy and full of so many worries and cares. I want to just curl up on your lap and find some peace from the chaos in my life. My worries fill my mind night and day. My stomach is in knots and I can hardly breathe. I feel like I am drained dry; the joy has been sucked right out of me.

You said to come to you with all my burdens. You said that you will carry them. Scripture describes you as a rock, shield, and fortress. I need a rock right now. I need a fortress to run into right now. I need you.

There are so many decisions to make. What if I make the wrong one? So many bad things loom on the horizon, what if I’m not prepared? Help me to focus my heart on you and not on the giants around me. I know that all these worries are keeping me from trusting you. Instead of looking in your face, I am looking around at the waves crashing over me.

Forgive me for doubting and not living a life of trust. I believe, but please help my unbelief. I know when I worry, I am believing a lie that says that I can control what happens in my life. Forgive me for trying to control something I never really had control of. Help me to trust in your word and not the lies I have believed.

You sent your Son to carry my greatest burden at the cross. I know that you can handle all that troubles me today. There is nothing too great for you, the earth is your footstool and the wind and rain come and go at your command. Free me of this worry today. Help me to trust the same grace that saved me at the cross to save me from all that weighs me down today.

I know that you have a perfect plan for my life. Help me to walk by faith and not by sight. I want to trust in your plan and your love for me. I want to face the unknown future confident that you have it under control. Give me the grace I need to do so.

I thank you for Jesus and that because of Him I can come to you in confidence. You accept me as I am, worries and all. I give them all to you now, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

To read a related prayer, A Prayer for the Sad at Heart, click here.