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Long & Weary Traveler: What Is Your Heart’s Prayer?

By Bonnie Gray • January 7, 2013 • 32 Comments

 

(Psst…  This post was inadvertently published on Sunday for a few moments.  Sorry for any confusion. You can click to comment at the end of today’s post now.  With love, Bonnie.)

Long and weary traveler.

Searching for the way to go.

Are you looking out among the crowds — to find someone you know?

Someone to hear your story.
Someone to sit down with you.

Someone who isn’t rushed to go anywhere.
Who won’t tire of you or your words.

Standing still is one of the most difficult and intimate spiritual acts we can dare to experience.

Because to do so means we must surrender, to the weight of our burdens — in order to find there is Someone strong enough to bear it all with us.

Completely.

It is time for you to ache with longing.

Because there is Someone who will stay.

He isn’t going anywhere.
He is focused on your heartache.
And keeping track of all your tears.

Can you imagine Jesus pouring over the pages of your story,
each time your heart gets broken?

He does.

He is living through every line with you,
heart tender with compassion,
quiet with understanding,
wounded for you.

Stranger.

I’m not talking to you, friend, the one reading with me here.

You see, the stranger to whom I’m whispering all these words…

This stranger is my very own heart.

And this is my heart’s prayer —

Let me find Your light in my story.
Let it flicker — even if it should be faint.

Because you’ve committed my every chapter by heart.
You’ve bound each yellowing page into your book.

So that I am remembered.

So that I am known.

So that I can be loved.

Deeply.

Please, Lord Jesus.

Guide my heart’s homecoming.

Guide all of me to you.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

 

“You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.”
~ Ps56:8

~~~~~

How are you the long and weary traveler?

What is your heart’s prayer at this moment?

Pull up a chair. Click here to comment.

By faith, we can rest in our stories.  As is.

~~~~~


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Welcome to Faith Barista – a blog that serves up shots of faith for everyday life. Posts brewed hot & fresh. Hang out. Swap some stories.

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32 Comments

  • Reply Debbie January 7, 2013 at 4:27 am

    My heart’s prayer is that I would not rush my quiet time with the Lord in the morning. I set my alarm or as Zig Ziglar always used to say …opportunity clock. I look forward to those early morning times with Him. His Word comes alive to me as I ponder all that’s written. It is amazing to me that He knows me and loves me. He sees all that’s going on in my life and He cares. Wow!

    As I write these words I know that He also loves you Bonnie and cares about all that impacts you. He alone is the One who can rescue you and heal your heart. He is healing mine too.

    Praying for you my friend.

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

    • Reply Bonnie Gray January 7, 2013 at 2:49 pm

      To rush and stay still… enough for rescue. What a beautiful heart’s prayer, Debbie.

  • Reply Julie January 7, 2013 at 4:33 am

    I’m pretty much left in awe of Him after this post.
    On my knees.
    Aware.
    Humbled.
    Deeply loved.
    Yes.

    Bonnie, thank you for your obedience in publishing these words.

    • Reply Bonnie Gray January 7, 2013 at 2:57 pm

      Thank you for publishing the words from your heart here, Julie. Thank you for bringing the nearness of God through voicing your heart here today.

  • Reply Teresa January 7, 2013 at 5:11 am

    Right now, my heart is broken. My husband, who is not walking with the Lord, is very angry with me about something I reallly don’t have any control over. When it comes down to it, it is his own insecurities and weakness that he is angry with, but it is being taken out on me. I am the type of person who wants peace and will do anything to achieve that peace. But, I have done all the apologizing and making up I can do. I feel like God is telling me that this is someplace where I need to step back. He is in control. But it is so hurtful to me to be shunned or to have my husband stewing. I trust you Lord, I trust you.

    • Reply Theresa January 7, 2013 at 8:09 am

      Teresa,

      Peace at any cost sometimes mean we have to stand in the truth. The truth is you didn’t cause it you can’t control it nor can you change it. The problem belongs to your dear husband and you are doing right to step out of the way. When we step out of the way and pray and believe we give God all the power he needs. The trick is not to rush in and try to change thing when they don’t look like they are going to turn out the way we wish them too. We must stand and trust that just like God knew what was best for us he knows what is be for your husband. After all he loves your husband and knows the plans he has for him.
      Theresa

      • Reply Teresa January 7, 2013 at 10:18 am

        Thank you so much Theresa

    • Reply Bonnie Gray January 7, 2013 at 3:40 pm

      Oh, Teresa. So painful. It’s heartbreaking to carry the burden of peace beyond what’s out of your control. Anger can wound us so deeply. Sounds like you’re listening closely to what God is prompting you. May you find the comfort of wise friends you can safely confide in for this journey.

  • Reply Debbie G January 7, 2013 at 5:21 am

    Simply beautiful!!!!!!!

  • Reply Cheryl January 7, 2013 at 6:49 am

    “do not grow weary in well doing, but in due season you shall reap if you do not lose heart” Gal. 6:9 I feel weary in so many areas of my life. Yet, God still has a plan and purpose for me. I want to find Jesus in every uneventful moment of my existence.

  • Reply Deb Weaver January 7, 2013 at 6:54 am

    Thank you for your beautiful, searching words. I appreciate how your walk points us to the Author of all our stories. He knows, He cares, He understands, He moves.

    Deb Weaver
    thewordweaver.com

  • Reply Katie January 7, 2013 at 7:25 am

    Oh Bonnie such a heartfelt prayer! My heart’s prayer—– is a lot of things —– but right now I am repeating over and over in the midst of life’s turmoil —– I trust you Jesus, I chose to trust you Jesus. Matt is having lots of heart issues at least once a week since Oct, if not more. My anxiety, PTSD, and depression are so high right now. I am woken from sleep when he is at work and has one and I need to get him because he can not drive, so I don’t sleep well.

  • Reply T. Renee January 7, 2013 at 7:27 am

    Teresa, I am living your post. Just this morning I have chosen to believe what I do not feel. God has not left us or abandoned us or our husbands and children. May God bless you as you wait on His perfect timing.

    Thank you, Bonnie, for your honesty. His light IS in your story and it shines through to us in your brave words.

    God bless you.

    • Reply Teresa January 7, 2013 at 10:20 am

      Thank you T. Renee. Thank you so very much.

  • Reply Sherry January 7, 2013 at 7:55 am

    Thank you Bonnie for being so open and honest about your pain and struggles.
    My deepest desire is for God to be my all and for the truth about who He is to be deeply rooted in me. Too easily and too often I become distracted by people’s responses to me rather than just being focused on God. And the pain causes me to stumble and fall. But when I take time to sit with Jesus and keep my heart and mind on Him, healing and peace come. I just need to prepare and guard my heart by time with Jesus, rather just coming to Him to pick up the pieces.

  • Reply Dare to Dream January 7, 2013 at 8:15 am

    So glad you’re back, Bonnie! We missed you :). You are such an encouagement to those if us who feel we have “noone” to share our heart’s longings with….but sometimes we need a remunder that Jesus is the One collecting our tears in His bottle. Someday it will all make sense when we see Him face to face!

  • Reply Cynthia January 7, 2013 at 9:27 am

    My prayer is that I will continually grow in Christ. I want to be more like Him, every day, which means losing more of me. And, although this may sound easy, it is not. We tend to go back and pick up bits of ourselves, in times of sorrow, pain or crisis. But, I know that I have a choice of letting go of self and scooting over, allowing more of Christ to live within me. I have this choice every day and I pray for more faith and love, that I may choose Christ every day and in every situation. Blessings to you!

  • Reply Tammy January 7, 2013 at 10:35 am

    Learning to step back, slow down and breathe before I speak, act, or do. God is asking for me to allow His presence to breathe over my heart and soul. That is hard to do for someone like me who often likes control. But I am learning that when I do I have experienced some moments that were humbling and amazing.

  • Reply Jill Colorfulheart January 7, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    In the past 5 years we have walked through life-threatening cancer for my husband, the unexpected death of one of our sons, loss of job/income, a year + of suicide watch over my husband, still maintaining a home and teaching the 2 kids still at home with us, moving to a remote area of NM to work with at risk Navajo young people, the messy end to that job, and absolutely NO clue what is next for our family…

    And through this, I am learning to STOP making lists…to STOP “doing”… God is challenging me to sit back and “be”… something quite challenging for this “God and I can do anything”-Girl. Guess it is a new season and a new way to live in that season…

    And in the midst of the long and weary wandering…I confess that I am excited to see what God will do next in our lives!

  • Reply Amy January 7, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    This was beautiful, but by far my favorite line was the end “By faith, we can rest in our stories. As is.” This is squarely where I am right now. Learning to rest in my own story AS IS. Thank you for putting words to what my heart is feeling!

  • Reply Ellen January 7, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    I do not know ( by who) or how it is I come to receive your post but I am thankful for it. you express so much of what is hidden in my own mind and heart. my prayer at is moment in time is to be become a more DISCIPLINED disciple and to learn to TRUST and lean on him to supply all my needs. I am one of the unemployed and it is a scary thing not to live with uncertainty everyday.

  • Reply muchalone January 7, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    Your words are like a salve on my heart…
    Thank you for this tender post!
    My heart’s prayer? Belonging…

  • Reply Elizabeth Sanor January 7, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    My hearts prayer at this moment is for my sister Rebecca. I am praying her trip next week to a breast surgeon is just a mistake. that she is fine and everyones test results are wrong. that she won’t die like our dad,mother, and youngest brother did of cancer. She loves the Lord. She has served Him all her life from work with small children to leading scrapbooking outreach classes, so you see My hearts prayer is for my sister. Because I love her so.

  • Reply Lynn January 7, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    Hi Bonnie,
    I am not one to comment much, unless it strikes a chord with me. Your writing here, struck a chord deep in my heart.

    “He is living through every line with you,
    heart tender with compassion,
    quiet with understanding,
    wounded for you.”
    “Someone who isn’t rushed…”

    How comforting! I appreciate your thoughtful writing.

    God Bless You,
    Lynn

  • Reply Darlene January 7, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    I sobbed quietly after reading this. Then I sent it to Facebook. My eyes are still wet and so are my cheeks. Thank you so much for helping me realize my heart’s prayer. Darlene

    • Reply Bonnie Gray January 8, 2013 at 4:15 pm

      You are loved, Darlene. Thank you for sharing.

  • Reply Jennifer January 7, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    I’m struggling through some heart things. Thanks for your tender reminders that He has forgotten me here.

    • Reply Bonnie Gray January 8, 2013 at 4:16 pm

      Wrapping my arms around you across the miles, Jennifer.

  • Reply Susan G. January 7, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    I love this verse! My ‘sister’ in the Lord and I often call ourselves the ‘crying sisters’, because we do cry a lot at our women’s small group at church. The tears are most often from feeling His presence and from feeling so blessed as a woman of God. We joke that God has our huge bottles of tears in Heaven that are MUCH bigger than anyone elses. 🙂 God bless you as you continue to serve Him with all of your heart!
    Praying for you,
    Susan G.

  • Reply Annie January 8, 2013 at 6:14 am

    I am a listener which I am grateful for but most the time I am not heard, remembered or listened to.
    As a pastors wife it is perceived that I have no needs or hurts.
    I have given up even trying to vocalize my pain to others or even to myself.
    I stuff it down. The tears are stuck inside.
    I feel forgotten, unloved and unimportant unless someone needs something from me.
    Thank you Bonnie for the reminder that He…
    …”remembers”
    …”knows”
    …”loves”

  • Reply Kkmonsters January 8, 2013 at 10:45 am

    My hearts prayer?
    To look at things above and not on things of the earth!
    I can get so directed into a pile of mess, on a turn of a dime, all because my focus goes to the things on earth, they are temporal.
    Now do I believe that, I want to!!!
    Cause I know in my heart of hearts keeping my eyes on Him keeps me cEnTeR…….
    Alittle shakey only because I have just walked out of a pile of mess after realizing where I need to go instead of where I am now!

    Thanks Bonnie for your sharing, and for all the other comments that others post!
    My eyes are on HIM!!!!
    Blessings, KK

  • Reply Stones cry January 10, 2013 at 10:33 am

    Bonnie, you have no idea how much of a blessing your words are to me today. As one who knows the pain of carrying a story that is too heavy for others to listen to, my whole life has been marked with searching out the One who stands ready to tell my story one day in the courts of heaven, Who daily lives to make intercession for me, Who weeps with me even while gathering my tears into His bottle. He is the reason I live. Thank you for the reminder that He is just exactly who I most need today.

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