Friday Prayer: The Pain of Loneliness

Father, I'm lonely. Not just alone but deeply isolated, surrounded by people who don't really know me. I have acquaintances but not friends, connections but not community, conversations but not real intimacy. I'm exhausted from pretending I'm fine when I'm not, from performing instead of being real.

You said it's not good for humans to be alone, yet here I am feeling profoundly lonely. Thank you that Jesus experienced this too - that you understand isolation not theoretically but experientially. You know what it's like to need people and have them fall asleep, to cry out and feel unheard, to be surrounded by crowds yet profoundly alone.

Give me courage to be honest about my loneliness instead of hiding it. Lead me to community where I can be real, where people share more than surface-level updates, where vulnerability is welcome. Help me take the risk of letting people see my real struggles, trusting that authentic connection is worth the risk of rejection. I can't keep doing this alone. I need you, and I need your people. Help me find both.