If you’re looking for a Tuesday morning prayer, maybe it’s because this day already feels heavy and the week already feels long. I get it. I’m generally an optimist, but some Tuesdays — well, they’re just plain rough.

I’d paint a sunrise for you if I could. Truly!

But instead, can I offer you some words to borrow — a Tuesday morning prayer for your heart that’s running low on hope?

When Life Feels Hopeless

Refill your coffee mug (do you drink it black, like me?) or tea cup, and let’s sit by my kitchen window. God always feels closer here, nearer the breeze and the trees, and yes, even the rain. If we were together, I’d ask you this:

Where do you most need hope today?

For your job?

Your marriage?

A health struggle?

A complicated friendship?

A parenting disaster?

God’s all ears. He can take your questions. They don’t scare Him one single bit.

In fact, I’ve asked Him a LOT of questions over the years. Questions like, what’s my purpose? Does anything I do even matter? (Yes, I feel extra hopeless on a Tuesday when I’ve lost my Monday resolve, and Friday is still far away.)

Questions have a funny way of turning us around, because instinctively we turn toward the person we’re talking with. Let your questions for God do the same thing.

Face Him. Tilt your chin toward the sky and say, “God, can I ask you a question?”

The pivot makes all the difference. It turns our questions to prayers, rather than accusations, and it helps us dare to believe that the things that matter to us, also matter to God. 

Questions Can Be Prayers

I really like King David. When you read David’s Psalms, you find a lot of question marks. I am incredibly comforted to know that David — who is described as a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, NIV) — was full of questions.

Some of the famous questions we find in Psalms are:

How long, O Lord?

Where are you?

Why have you forsaken me?

Like David, we can ask questions out of curiosity, sorrow, frustration, overwhelm, worry, and even anger. Also like David, we can address our questions directly to God.

It becomes a conversation when we bring our honesty, turn our attention toward God, and give Him space to speak to our hearts. That’s what prayer is: conversation.

We overthink it sometimes, right? As if we need to iron out all our questions and faults before we come to God. But that’s not how He sees it. He wants to hear what burdens you, what stops you from trusting Him, what gets in the way of you taking the next step.

That’s why the Tuesday prayer I’m sharing with you today is full of questions.

A Tuesday Morning Prayer to Grow Hope in Your Heart

Let’s pray:

God, where are you on this Tuesday morning? I need you. In my heart, some Tuesdays feel more like a rainstorm than a pretty sunrise. Life can feel hard at the beginning of a week. Will it get better?

On some Tuesdays, like this one, I don’t have a lot of words. So, God, let me know that You can read the unspoken words on my heart. I always find it a comfort that You can take my groans and sighs, and turn them into prayers (Romans 8:26). Thank You, Holy Spirit, for interceding for me when I’m at a loss of words.

This morning, I am turning toward You. Opening up to You. Can You hear me? Do You see me?

You say that Your eyes are always on me (Proverbs 15:3). That I’m the “apple of your eye” (Psalm 17:8). That you think about me constantly (Psalm 139:17). God, help me believe this is true when my heart turns doubtful.

You also promise me all the wisdom I need, if only I’ll ask (James 1:5). I could really use some wisdom this morning. So here I am, praying a bold prayer for clarity on my next steps forward. 

Would You point me in the right direction? Please open the doors You want me to enter and close the ones that aren’t for me, … or for me right now. Would You help me to trust that You always know best?

Give me the courage to keep walking toward You. When I can’t seem to find my way, be my light, my hope, my companion, and my guide.

Open my eyes to see You next to me, and open my ears to hear Your voice. I need to know that You haven’t left me.

Show me how You’re growing good things in my life as I wait. Show me how You’ve been here all along.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Space for God to Speak

Prayer is as much listening as it is speaking. Let’s take time now to sit quietly and listen for His still, small voice — which is as present on a Tuesday morning as it is on a Sunday.

Give God space to reassure your heart and refill you with hope.

Pause with me now, …
as we listen for God to reassure our hearts.

Continue the Conversation

If you’d like to continue your conversation with God, below are a few questions Jesus asks in the Gospels. I shared them in my guided journal, Stuff I’d Only Tell God: A Guided Journal of Courageous Honesty, Obsessive Truth-Telling, and Beautifully Ruthless Self-Discovery, along with many prompts to encourage conversation between you and God.

Pick one of these questions — straight from the Bible — to answer on paper or in prayer. You might even begin your own powerful Tuesday morning prayer as a response to one of the questions.

• “Do you understand what I have done for you?” (John 13:12)
• “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41)
• “Why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
• “Why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:26)
• “Do you love me?” (John 21:17)

Think of Stuff I’d Only Tell God as your own confession booth. With God, you can get courageously honest. 

A Good Tuesday Morning Prayer to Share

No matter what feels hard in your life today, friend, you can talk to God about it. He’s here for you on Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and every other day.

To share this Tuesday morning prayer, save it to your Pinterest, forward it to a friend, or share it on Facebook.

RELATED: If you liked this prayer, check out this Monday Morning Prayer: The Best Way to Begin a New Week.

Article by Jennifer Dukes Lee with Twyla Franz