“Mom, you forgot prayers!”  

My six-year-old is either wholeheartedly devoted to spiritual disciplines or she knows how to delay bedtime with an excuse I can’t refuse. 

“Of course, sweetie. What do you want to thank God for today?” 

We use a slight revision of the old ACTS formula. Ours is:  

“Thank you God…” (Adoration/Thanksgiving) 

“Sorry God…” (Confession) 

“Please God…” (Supplication) 

I love hearing her recall the joys of the day and acknowledge that they are a gift from our Heavenly Father. 

I try to do the same myself by spending a few moments before bed thanking God for the day. In fact, gratitude meditation is all the rage in secular circles now. Proponents claim it can reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, improve sleep, and even relieve depression. 

But something about it doesn’t feel right to me. I’m having one of those days. The poverty and injustice in my community are overwhelming. The suffering of dear friends is breaking my heart. My efforts seem so inadequate, so feeble. I can thank God for a beautiful sunset this evening, but I’m only a little thankful, so my praise seems small as well. 

Is there another way to fuel my worship? Is there a well I can draw from that is deeper than how grateful I feel on a given day? 

I turn to the Old Testament prophets, who spare no detail in expressing despair at the state of God’s people during times of disaster. They don’t hedge their prayers or diminish the suffering. And praise is still found there: 

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18 

What a powerful model for my prayers during a difficult season: “Though… Yet…”   

Though I am lonely and out of my depth, though we lack resources, though we face opposition, though the roots of poverty reach back to generations of oppression, though the gospel seems foolishness to those who are perishing… 

…YET I will praise God for His unfailing love and faithfulness. He has never forsaken me, and His promises are sure. He invites me to pray, not in spite of my challenges, but through them. He enables me to use my struggles as fuel for worship.