“Do you know what’s next?”
My husband and I looked at each other in response to our therapist’s question. “No,” I replied, “but we think we know what isn’t.” The next day, my husband wrote his letter of resignation to leave his job of thirteen years.
We didn’t know where God was calling us next, what that would look like, or how we would make it work. We simply knew we couldn’t stay where we were any longer. It was time to make a change, even if that meant uncertainty.
As believers, what are we supposed to do when life doesn’t look how we thought it would, and we can’t see how all the pieces will come together?
No matter the challenges in front of you, the good news is that God is the great comforter. He ordains every season we walk through and knows everything that happens in our lives. He is always right there with us.
Use these prayers for comfort to encourage you in whatever you’re facing today.
1. A Prayer for Comfort When Your Life Is Difficult
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance…. (Ecc. 3:1–4)
Life doesn’t stop. In one aspect of your life, you could be getting everything you ever wanted, while in another, the only thing holding you together is prayers for comfort.
In times like these, we can look to God and ask, “Help me be patient in this difficult time.”
While God doesn’t always make life comfortable, we always have access to the true comforter—Him.
God, You see all the different aspects of my situation. Thank You for being a God who can work in my heart when the season is both hard and good.
I need You to come and speak the truth into my heart right now. I surrender the confusion I feel and want to glorify Your name regardless of my circumstances.
God, You are the God who knows all and sees all. I am so thankful that not one moment in my day is missed from Your sight, and You are fighting for me.
I pray today for the strength to get up and do this day well. I am so thankful for the hope I have in You, and I feel so special because You want to live life with me, Your daughter. Give me the strength I don’t have.
Thank You for showing me I am more than a conqueror in Christ (Rom. 8:37). I know I am not in this alone, and You will walk through the day with me. Amen.
Go a step further: Write on several sticky notes ways God is using (or could use) your current difficult season for good. Place them as encouraging reminders around your space.
2. A Prayer for When You’re Tired of Doing It All
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! (Ps. 46:10)
Have you ever felt like you aren’t allowed to complain about being tired or overwhelmed because there’s always someone who is doing more or going through more?
I remember talking to my therapist about this very thing, and she taught me about the concept of comparative suffering—when you compare your suffering to another’s to dismiss or justify your own feelings and emotions.
It got me thinking: How can I expect God to comfort me in something I downgrade or disregard?
I have to be willing to admit when I am tired and pray that God will meet me at the end of my ability (even if it is different from others’). This allows me to see Him work in my circumstances and give Him glory.
Jesus, I keep trying to do it all, but I want to do what You have called me to do and know that is enough.
I am tired. I am letting go of the lists and to-dos in my head, and I ask You to show me what is most important today.
I live from the victory and gift of grace You died to give me. Help me to do that today as I live out my purpose, which You have uniquely designed for me. Amen.
Go a step further: Examine your life and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the places where you have exchanged grace, peace, and comfort for the world’s to-do list. Make changes accordingly.
3. A Prayer for When You Experience Family Drama
For not even his brothers believed in him. (John 7:5)
Family drama is a unique kind of pain.
I clung to this verse during a time of struggle—in going to Jesus and speaking prayers for comfort, I remembered my Savior understood what it felt like to have tensions with those who are closest.
No matter the family drama you are walking through, know that you have a Savior who understands the emotions you are experiencing.
Jesus, I am so thankful that You have walked the earth. You know what it was like when those You love hurt You.
You know what it feels like to have those You love reject You and say hurtful things.
Just like You experienced the rejection of family, I need a complete family redemption. I need You to come in, heal, and restore. Amen.
Go a step further: Pray that God would soften your heart toward those who have hurt you and pray that they might see Jesus in you. Pray also for conviction for your own part in the dysfunction and repent. Trust that no relationship is beyond God’s ability to redeem.
4. A Prayer for When Parenting Is Exhausting
… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…. (Heb. 12:1–2)
Being a successful parent means relying on God for strength and being faithful to Him. God chose you to raise this generation of Christ-followers at this time and will equip you to do what He has asked of you. You are not alone.
Jesus, it can be exhausting to parent a child, especially with all the ever-changing technology, ideas, and world events. My kids are overwhelmed, and I don’t know how to answer all their questions. But I know that You have chosen me to run this race.
Give me the strength to keep showing up and keep believing that You are working even when I don’t see it.
Thank You for walking through each day with me. When I can say these prayers for comfort, I know You hear me. Amen.
Go a step further: Set aside a routine time as a family to dig into Scripture and build the solid foundation your children need to live in this world.
5. A Prayer for When You Can’t See What God Is Doing
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Rom. 12:12–13)
Only six months into newlywed life, my husband and I had walked through a family member’s cancer diagnosis, a friend’s autoimmune diagnosis, a family death, and finding out I had to quickly finish my master’s program or transfer schools. I remember thinking, I have no idea what God is doing.
Your circumstances don’t have to match mine to understand what I was feeling. We have all walked through times like these.
Thankfully, God is not intimidated by the questions that often come in times of overwhelm. He wants to know what our hearts feel and longs to comfort us.
God, I know I can still have joy amid difficult times, but I need You to show me how to do that and find moments of happiness and joy.
Remind my heart and spirit when they get overwhelmed to come to You and rely on You to hear my prayers for comfort.
Go a step further: Start a list of prayer requests in your journal. Record how God answered your prayer remembering that God saying no is also an answer. See how He moves even when the season is difficult.
As You Continue to Pray for Comfort
The passage in 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 reminds us the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” teaches and equips us to comfort others as He sets the perfect example.
Don’t waste a season of suffering by keeping what you learn to yourself. Allow the Lord to use the comfort He’s offered you to comfort others.
You are seen, loved, chosen, adored, and never, oh sweet one, never forgotten.
Keep Walking When Life Hits Hard
No matter what hardships you’re facing that leave you in need of prayers for comfort today, these Esther Press articles are full of powerful prayers and Bible verses to encourage and equip you for whatever comes next.
