When You’re Weary
When You’re Weary “God, help me. Please. Help me.”
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve had one of those moments; maybe you’re in one right now. You don’t have the strength or the words or the hope to carry on. You’re weary down to your soul. Your marriage isn’t getting better. Your body is physically fighting to be healthy. You’re afraid of when the next shoe will drop. You just can’t see the end anymore and all you need is a glimmer to be hopeful again. But it’s just not coming. Can I tell you what I did when I was there?
I was in Maine the last week of June on a video shoot for a show I get to be a part of called Unshakeable Moxie with a ministry called Our Daily Bread. It had been a few days since anything crazy had happened, so my family and I were a little more stable. Then I got a text from Anna Julia, our nanny, saying that our electricity had shut down. She had to pack up the kids and take them to a friend’s house. We were still being attacked, and it was the last straw for me. Before we left for filming for the day, I sat outside and sent this text to everyone I knew that would really do it:
Hey y’all. I’m rallying the troops. I’ve been up against some really intense and persistent spiritual warfare these past three weeks and I’m so beyond weary. I’ve been fighting and praying with everything I have, and I just need some saints to stand in the trenches with me. If you have the capacity, can you pray these things in agreement for the rest of the week until Sunday?
1. Protection for my nanny and kids while I’m gone for work.
2. Protection over my house. That no other maintenance or outages or snakes would bother us (yep, both had happened within the past few weeks).
3. My strength and endurance. I have so much faith in God, I really do. I believe and can clearly see Him warring on my behalf. I’m just so weary.
4. Pray that my health stays good so I can show up for work and provide for my family (yep, migraines, strep throat, antibiotics and steroids had also happened in the past few weeks)
5. That God would increase my finances swiftly so that my anxiety around money scarcity would be at ease and I can catch up and get out of debt.
6. That Anna Julia (my nanny) would be filled with joy. She’s had a hard week, and I can tell that she’s weary and scared about all of the things that keep happening to us.
Love y’all. Grateful for all of you. Believing for better days.
Sometimes prayer is the very thing your people can give you that makes all the difference. I believe in prayer with everything in me, and I enjoy praying, but I needed my people in the trenches for me this time. When I couldn’t form the words, they did. When I couldn’t get on my knees, they did. When I was afraid, I leaned on their faith. And maybe it’s time you lean on the faith of your faithful few as well.
Here’s what I want to encourage you in: Be specific with your prayers! I needed to type out that text to my people because I knew if I asked them to pray, they would ask for what I needed prayer for exactly. They know that God is such an intentional Father to us that He wants every single detail. Philippians 4:6–7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When the apostle Paul spoke into our anxiety, he was doing it in the context of a command, not a request. Paul wasn’t saying that we wouldn’t get anxious; he was saying that when we get anxious, we should remember that on the other side of our prayers, there’s a miracle-working God who answers them according to His good and perfect will for our lives.
I also love that Paul used the word “every” in this scripture. Paul was teaching us that every prayer, every situation that we are wading through, is important to God. Everything should be prayed about. Looking for that promotion? Finances are tight and you’re hoping for a random check in the mail? You’ve been on one too many dates that are awkward and you deeply desire for the next one to be normal? A loved one is not doing well, and you’re believing for healing? Your big toe is hurting from wearing those heels a little too long that one night? Temptation from an addiction getting hard to manage? God wants it all. He doesn’t leave one area of our lives untouched. He wants all of it to work for our good. So don’t let shame win when you have to rally the troops for prayer on your behalf. Lean in; give them every crevice.
I also want you to pay attention to the words “prayer and petition,” or in other translations, “prayer and supplication.” Prayer is a high-level idea, the act of communicating with God. Prayer is our conversation with Him, but petition is our direct asks of God. I believe that the more specific we get with God about what we need, the more specific we will see His answers.
What do you actually need, friend? Have you asked yourself that question? What do I actually need? Is it a companion, or the ability to find comfort in knowing that while you may feel lonely, you’re never actually alone? Is it a new job, or is it a heart that is grateful for what God has already given you? Is it that you’d forget your ex, or is it that your heart wouldn’t feel so heavy and you can sleep and eat again? Write those things down, get specific, and if you can’t do it alone, ask a friend to help you write out your list. Sometimes our people know what we need better than we do. Tap into that.
Lean into this, please. The enemy will come after you with everything he’s got. I know it—I’ve witnessed it. I’ve fought through it. And for the first time in a long time, I was so weary my hope was starting to fade. But I wouldn’t dare let the enemy of our souls win this one. He doesn’t get the final say. He is not on the winning team—we are. God is and always will be the winner! Daughter of God, hold on tight. Do not give in to the enemy’s ways. He is only distracting you from real healing and hope. He doesn’t want your soul to be well, so he’s going to do everything he can to break you in every possible way. In your finances, your health, your relationships, and your deepest fears. Do not shoulder that alone; rally the troops.
Adapted from Don’t Try This Alone: How to Build Deep Community When You Want to Hide from Your Pain by Toni Collier. Copyright © 2025 by Toni Collier. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. PREORDER NOW. HarperCollinsChristian.com
