A Gentle Prayer as You Hold Unknowns

Along with all your doubts, questions, and fears

What are the undercurrents of your life?

Over the past year I have been able to sit with all that my life holds, sometimes in healthy ways, and other times in frantic, overwhelmed spaces. What I’ve noticed though, is that there have been some common and continual undercurrents in my heart. For a while, they were hard to name, or put my finger on. But over time, I’ve been slowly inviting myself to notice what is rising from the depths of my heart—there is always more going on beneath the surface. I’ve had to continually slow my life down to hear these undercurrents of life—to quiet not only my outer world but my inward heart.

They are subtle.

They are powerful to name.

They may hold unexpected emotions.

They may surface new desires.

They are deeply important.

---

Photo by Martino Pietropoli on Unsplash

---

Today I offer you a prayer—as I hold many questions and unknowns that maybe you can resonate with as well. I don’t have them figured out. I don’t have the perfect way to process or navigate them. The journey of discerning through life’s complexities is being invited closer to the heartbeat of Jesus as opposed to getting a clear answer to our questions.

I bring all of what I’m feeling and noticing to my friend Jesus. He alone reminds me that all of who I am is loved, important, never alone, fearfully, and wonderfully made.

May you be invited to sit with our friend Jesus in your unknowns today.

May you remember how deeply important the undercurrents of your life are.

May you experience His loving presence (not always answers) as you are with Him.

---

A Prayer as You Hold Unknowns

Oh God of the universe,

you alone orchestrate the movement of the stars,

the birth of flowers blooming into beauty,

and the life cycle of leaves forming and changing as seasons come and go.

///

I sit here, in the bleakness of my questions,

holding unknowns in my life that feel insurmountable.

Questions that rise from the depths of my soul fill my heart with yearning—

for answers,

for peace,

for hope,

for a path forward,

for courage to look back,

for any sort of direction.

I am walking alongside you, Jesus, on a path that my eyes can’t see—

where the fog is too thick, and my feet and heart feel confused.

///

Oh God of the universe, remind me today,

that you are working and weaving,

molding and forming,

designing and creating—

a beautiful journey.

May I draw closer to the heartbeat of your breath today—

the rhythm of your steadfastness,

the soothing of your knowing,

the regulation of your love.

///

Holy Spirit, remind me today that the answers to my questions are not the end all.

The process of drawing nearer,

doing my next right thing,

noticing God’s goodness in the mundane,

noticing the patterns of Love throughout my life—that is the journey through the unknown.

May I hold the words of Mary, the sacred mother of Jesus, with open hands today—

May it be to me according to your word¹.

Amen

Substack always offers their writers the option to open up for paid subscriptions. I know many writers on this platform offer this to their subscribers, but for me, I hope to always keep what I offer here in this space free of charge. My husband and I serve in support-based missions work in diaspora ministry, specifically in refugee care. If you want to support my writing—you could give a one-time or recurring donation to our ministry and that would be a huge blessing.

1. Luke 1:38