For When Nothing You Do Is Enough
A Centering Prayer in Preparation for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
There's a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from trying to prove your worth—from climbing perfectionism's endless ladder, from running yourself ragged trying to be enough. I know that tired. But lately I'm learning that grace might show up best when we finally admit we're worn out from trying so hard. This prayer rises from that honest place of holy exhaustion, where striving meets surrender.
For When Nothing You Do Is Enough
A Centering Prayer in Preparation for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
Sacred Gardener in the Desert,
I've been trying to escape
This stripping-bare wilderness,
Climbing perfectionism's ladder,
Running from what tests me,
Still hungry to prove my worth.
But here, in this sacred wild,
Where I didn't choose to journey,
You're teaching me to see differently:
That solitude draws me to your heart,
That surrender shapes me like Jesus,
That grace finds me in my wandering.
You who turned graves to gardens,
Desert dust to wildflower fields,
Cross-wood into welcome table—
Transform this wilderness in me.
Help me trust that grace is enough,
That I am enough,
That even here,
especially here,
Love makes a feast for my soul.
Let me rest at your table now,
Where enemies become guests,
Where haunted becomes holy,
Where wilderness becomes home.
Amen.
