A Prayer for When the World Feels Heavy

Lord,

Today the world feels heavy.

I know that the world is broken, but there is a weightiness to that brokenness that pushes down upon me.

I turn on my phone, and I am met with headlines of hurting people. I see people arguing with one another and tearing down each other with words of contempt. I read statistics of death and stories of destruction.

It feels as if each hard thing happening in today's world is a boulder upon my shoulders.

One by one, each boulder weighs me down. Boulders of injustice, sickness, war, and division.

And then there are personal boulders that add more pressure. Boulders of fear, weakness, and fatigue.

My knees wobble and begin to buckle. Heavier and heavier I sink under the weight of each element of brokenness.

In this moment, remind me that this weight is not mine to carry.

Remind me how Your Word says that when I am weary and burdened, I can come to You for rest. Remind me that when I come to You, You don't just shift some of the weight unto Yourself, but You carry all of the weight.

Thank You for being the God that lifts burdens.

Thank You that You don't stand at a distance, watching your children cripple under the weight of the world.

For You not only see the brokenness of this world, but You also did something about it.

When Your Son went to the cross, He experienced a weight far greater than the weight I feel.

Jesus carried the burden of sin, my sin included, on His shoulders, and He carried this burden with Him to His death.

But this wasn't the end of the story.

Three days later, Your Son rose again, declaring victory over sin and shame, declaring that You hold power over every single burden of brokenness.

Jesus, the weight of this world is not too big for You to carry, for You already carried it all on the cross. So, even though this world feels heavy, remind me that You have overcome the world.

God, You are greater than every single thing that worries me and weighs me down.This world is hard and heavy, but You hold the world in Your hands. You uphold the universe with Your mighty arms.

May this truth give me hope as I step into this day. May Your control over all things remind me that no burden can crush me because of Your power.

Help me to hand over the weightiness I feel continuously. Keep me from trying to carry the burdens of this world on my shoulders alone.

You stand ready to carry everything that I am feeling, so help me to give everything to You.

Help me continue pushing forward in this life, even though living in this world is so hard.

Remind me that the brokenness of this world is not an eternal reality, for one day, You will return to remove the weight of sin forever. The boulders of injustice, sickness, war, division, fear, weakness, and fatigue will be eternally shattered by Your mighty hands.

But until that day, use me as a light in this dark world. Lord, empower me to step out into the brokenness, and help me to move toward the hurting and the lost.

Give me boldness to enter into the heaviness with the gospel's message, pointing others to the truth of the hope and freedom that is found in You.

Help me to reflect you Jesus, as I seek to carry the burdens of those around me, not in my own strength but in Your strength.

Amen.