How My “Almost Prayers” Are Going
When I started writing the Almost Prayers series, I didn’t really expect them to hit this deeply. I thought I’d be offering a few raw edges of honesty — for the people like me, who sometimes can’t find the right words, or don’t feel quite “holy” enough to string them together properly.
But what I didn’t expect was how much I needed them.
I didn’t realize how often I’d be writing them for myself.
I thought I was creating content — something helpful, a little funny, something that might land well on Instagram. Instead, I found myself sitting with my cherry coke in one hand and my own tired soul in the other, whispering, “God, I don’t even know where to begin.”
Some of the prayers start as jokes. Or sighs. Or texts I never send.
Some start in the middle of real conversations — with friends, with God, with myself.
Some feel too soft. Some feel too angry. Some feel too honest.
But maybe that’s the point.
These aren’t polished prayers. They don’t always start with “Dear God,” and they rarely end with “Amen.” But they’re real. They’re reaching. They’re mine.
And apparently… they’re yours, too.
When I started sharing them, messages came in:
“Me too.”
“Thank you for saying what I couldn’t.”
“I needed this today.”
“Is this one about me? Because same.”
It turns out that almost-prayers are still prayers.
The ones interrupted by dishes, or grief, or a toddler meltdown.
The ones muttered in traffic.
The ones we think but never say out loud.
God hears those, too.
I still don’t feel especially spiritual most days. But I do feel more honest. And maybe that’s the holiest part — not the eloquence, but the showing up.
So if your prayers feel more like fragments than poetry —
if your quiet time is mostly just quiet
and your Bible has more crumbs than notes in the margins —
you’re in good company.
This is a season of almosts. And grace meets us right there.
Thank you for reading, praying, liking, sharing, whispering.
Thank you for being the kind of people who believe that half-formed words are still sacred ground.
Let’s keep going. One almost-prayer at a time.
—