The Lord Who Hears

“I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me.”

Psalm 120:1

There are moments when we feel forsaken, not because God has abandoned us, but because our heart aches for connection that seems just out of reach. The psalmist knows this ache well. He lives among people who do not share his longing for peace, who misunderstand his desire for goodness. Instead of collapsing under the weight of that sorrow, he turns it into prayer: “I call on the Lord… and He answers me.” Eugene Peterson reminds us that the Psalms teach us to pray from exactly where we are — not from a polished spiritual state, but from the raw center of our real lives.

Prayer is not just something we ought to simply do, but that it is the very act by which we draw our tired, fragile, discouraged hearts into the sustaining life of God. When our strength has worn thin, prayer becomes the place where His strength flows in. Prayer is not a performance, nor a spiritual achievement. It is the reaching out of an empty hand. To call on the Lord is to say, “Even in my emptiness, even when I feel forsaken or misunderstood, I believe You are here.” It is to trust that God is not distant, but attentive — listening to the cry behind our words, and even the cry we cannot yet speak.

As we pray, something begins to shift. The feeling of being misunderstood does not define us. The emptiness begins to open into presence. The sorrow is held, not denied. The answer to the feeling of being forsaken is not simply the presence of other people — it is the presence of God Himself. And from that presence, He gently leads us into the community of His people, where we are seen, known, and loved.

Prayer:

Lord, meet me in the places where my heart feels distant or misunderstood. Teach me to call on You from the very center of my real life. Let Your presence steady me, guide me, and lead me toward the place where I am known and held in Your love. Amen.