Faith & feelings
How to Pray When You Feel Hopeless
6 min read
There are seasons when hope gets very thin. Maybe something you prayed about for a long time didn’t happen. Maybe one hard thing followed another until you stopped expecting anything good. In those seasons, prayer can feel like the hardest thing of all, because praying seems to require hope, and hope is exactly what is missing.
If that is where you are, this is not a list of things you should be doing better. It’s a handful of small, honest ways to keep the conversation with God open, even when you can’t feel much at all.
Hopelessness is not the opposite of faith
Many of us carry a quiet belief that people with real faith don’t feel hopeless. The Bible tells a different story. It is full of people who reached the end of their strength and said so.
In Psalm 42, the writer talks to his own soul: “Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalm 42:11, WEB). Notice that he doesn’t pretend the despair isn’t there. He names it first, and only then reaches, a little, toward hope.
Elijah, one of the great prophets, sat under a tree and told God he had had enough (1 Kings 19). Job spent chapter after chapter in grief and confusion. These stories are in Scripture for a reason. Feeling hopeless doesn’t put you outside the story of faith. It puts you in very old company.
Feeling hopeless doesn’t put you outside the story of faith. It puts you in very old company.
Five small ways to pray when hope is low
None of these is a formula. Think of them as doors. Try the one that seems possible today.
1. Tell God the truth in one sentence. “I don’t have any hope left about this.” “I’m tired of waiting.” That is already a prayer. You don’t need to dress it up.
2. Borrow the words of a psalm. When your own words run out, the Psalms can carry you. Psalm 13 begins with “How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1, WEB). Reading a psalm like that slowly, out loud, is a way of praying with someone else’s words until your own come back.
3. Ask for just enough for today. Hope for the whole future can feel out of reach. Hope for the next few hours is smaller. “Help me get through this evening.” “Give me enough strength for tomorrow morning.” Jesus taught us to ask for daily bread, not a year’s supply.
4. Remember one thing. Lamentations was written in a time of deep loss, and still it says: “It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22–23, WEB). You might write down one small thing that held you up this week, even if it seems very small.
5. Sit in silence and let that count. Some days the only prayer you have is staying in the room. “Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:8, WEB). Sometimes pouring out looks like tears, and sometimes it looks like nothing at all.
A short prayer you can use tonight
You don’t have to carry this alone
Prayer and practical support belong together. If the heaviness has lasted a long time, or you’ve had thoughts of not wanting to be here, please reach out to someone today: a friend, a pastor, your doctor or a counselor. In the US, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at any hour. Asking for help is not a lack of faith. It is often how God’s care reaches us.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a sin to feel hopeless?
Feeling hopeless is a human experience, and the Bible includes many faithful people who felt it, from the psalmists to Elijah and Job. Scripture doesn’t scold them for it. It shows them bringing that feeling to God.
What should I pray when I have lost hope?
Start with one honest sentence about how you feel, then ask for help with just today. You can also read a psalm of lament, such as Psalm 13 or Psalm 42, and pray it as your own.
What Bible verse helps when I feel hopeless?
Many people find comfort in Psalm 42:11, Lamentations 3:22–23 and Romans 15:13: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (WEB).
What if I don’t feel anything when I pray?
That happens to many people, especially in hard seasons. Feelings come and go. Showing up and staying a few minutes is still prayer, even when it feels empty.
If you’d like something to open on the heavy days, Bible for Difficult Days gathers 59 short reflections around real situations, each with a verse, a few gentle questions and a prayer you can simply read. And if today all you can manage is one sentence, that sentence is enough.