A Prayer For Self-doubt

A Prayer for Self-Doubt

O God, how can we possibly

Parent in these times?

How can we raise children

To love You and love others

When we are barely hanging on ourselves?

O God, we need Your help.

Meet us here in our humanity,

For Your power is made perfect in weakness.

And may the gentleness we give ourselves

Pour out in our interactions

With our children

And our world.

O God, we need Your help

In the wondering if we’re not enough—

Not wise or patient enough,

Not kind or creative enough.

Remind us that Your grace is enough.

We feel like we’re not enough,

But we know in our weakness

You are made strong.

We come to You

Like a child comes to a father,

And ask for Your help.

O God, we need Your help.

Breathe in us new life when we’re weary

And courage when we’re scared.

When we make mistakes, help us repair them,

And help us be gentle with ourselves

As we strive to be gentle with our children,

For You are gentle with us.

O God, we need Your help.

As we parent, help us do the next right thing.

Help us do the best we can with what we have.

Help us keep walking Your paths of peace

And righteousness.

Help us rest when we need it.

And we need it, Lord—

We really need it.

O God, we need Your help.

We don’t know how to hold

The weight of expectations,

And we feel our limitations

As we navigate the pressures of parenting.

O God, we need Your help.

Help us remember we’re not alone in our suffering.

Help us find a community of others

To raise our children with

So that we may lift each other.

For parenting was never meant

To happen in isolation,

And no parent is an island.

O God, we need Your help.

We know this season requires sacrifice.

Help us be gentle with ourselves.

We ache to pour out compassion on our children,

And yet we forget to be compassionate with ourselves.

You call us Your beloved—

Your very own children—

And we cast our shortcomings onto You,

For You care for us.

O God, we need Your help.

Psalm 54:4; 2 Corinthians 12:9