When Your Only Prayer Is “God, Help Me.”

There are moments in life when the only prayer we can say is, “God, help me.” It isn’t polished or flowy—it’s raw, honest, and often whispered through tears. Life has a way of bringing us to these places. Sometimes it’s the sting of hurtful words, the kind that linger long after they’re spoken. I wrote about this a few weeks ago in The Lie: "Sticks and Stones.

But there are other hurts in life, and in this season leading up to Christmas, there are people who are struggling with deep pain. Whether it’s a comment or misunderstanding, or something far heavier—a diagnosis that knocks the breath out of you, a loss that leaves a hollow ache, a betrayal you never imagined, or a circumstance that shifts your entire world in a moment, these are the kinds of experiences that make moving forward feel impossible, where even breathing feels like work, and doing the next thing is the only thing you can do.

This week my heart has been heavy for loved ones walking through pain that goes beyond anything words can capture—situations that have turned their lives upside down. And in those moments, their prayer becomes the same cry I’ve prayed myself: “God, help me.”

And here’s the good news: God meets us in that prayer. He doesn’t wait for eloquent words. He doesn’t need us to have the right vocabulary for our suffering.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

— Psalm 46:1

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

— Psalm 34:18

The Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

— Romans 8:26

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

— Matthew 11:28

These verses don’t erase the hurt—whether from words or wounds—but they secure us to a God who is reliable, constant, present, and deeply aware of our pain.

When pain cuts deep—deeper than words, deeper than explanations—faith can feel fragile. But God’s presence is not. He holds steady when everything else feels uncertain. He hears the whispered prayers, the angry prayers, the exhausted prayers, and the wordless prayers. And when “God, help me” is the only thing you can manage, it is not a sign of weak faith—it’s a sign of dependent faith. Real faith. Faith that leans on Him when everything else feels too heavy.

A Closing Prayer

God, You see every heart that feels overwhelmed, broken, or afraid. You know the hurts that words can’t express. Meet us in our “help me” moments. Be our safe place when we feel helpless and our strength when we feel weak. Give us peace in the places that feel chaotic. Help us trust that You are working, even in what we cannot see. Hold us close, steady our steps, and remind us that we never walk alone. Amen.