The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on January 23, 2026 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
When the days are long and hard, and there are too many of them in a row, our bodies, minds, and spirits let us know. Muscles get tight. Energy goes low. Brain fog sets in, and it’s easy to get distracted and hard to stay focused. Tears and irritation come too easily, and one’s spirit contracts, pulls in, feels small and weak. When these signs are telling us that we are exhausted, it is okay to pray in different ways.
Simply noticing is already a prayer. Noticing the tightness is already prayer. Noticing the brain fog is already a prayer. Noticing the contractions is already a prayer. Noticing where we actually are helps us to consent to God meeting us exactly and just as we are.
Resting is also prayer. Taking a break from your usual routine to simplify can be prayer. Just showing up to prayer, even if you don’t “do” anything, is prayer. Literally lying down and resting in the Presence of the Holy One is also prayer. Being held by the Holy One is prayer.
Exhaustion can teach us some of the hardest ways to pray, such as deep surrender. Feel as if everything has been taken from you? Hand it over. Feel like you’ve got nothing left? Let it go. Can’t seem to do anything how you want to? Give it your all. Really, deep surrender frees us to go all in and offer every last ounce of energy that we don’t really seem to “have” anyway. Offering it over allows for new life.
In prayer, when we are exhausted, deep surrender of all the things—in body, mind, and spirit, allows for the natural cycle of rest to flow back into renewal. May we allow the Hands of the Holy One to hold us, both in the stillness of our rest and in the movement of our giving!
