When You Wake Up Feeling Alone

Good morning. This is Morning Prayer from Bearing Fruit.

The coffee finishes, and it's the only sound in the house. There's nobody to say good morning to. If you woke up lonely again, David prayed about that, and his words are in Psalm twenty-five. Let's bring this to God together.

In Psalm twenty-five, verses sixteen and seventeen, David prays this.

Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress.

Psalm 25:16-17

Psalm twenty-five is an alphabet poem. In Hebrew, its lines follow the alphabet, almost letter by letter. It's a carefully made prayer, full of trust, and near the end of it David says plainly that he's lonely.

He doesn't dress it up, and he doesn't apologize for it. In the same psalm he asks for guidance, and for forgiveness. Loneliness sits right there among his ordinary requests, and he brings it the same way. He asks God to turn to him. When it feels as if everyone has turned away, David asks the one Person who won't.

Loneliness isn't a sin, and it doesn't mean you've failed. At the very beginning, God Himself said it wasn't good for the man to be alone. We were made for company.

Many of us know this ache. For one of you, it's the first autumn after the divorce, and the other side of the bed has been empty for months. Someone else moved for work and hasn't made a single real friend in the new town. And some of you spend all day surrounded by people, at home and at work, and still feel that nobody really sees you.

Jesus knew loneliness too. On the night before He died, He told His disciples what was about to happen.

Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

John 16:32

A few hours later, in the garden, He asked three of His friends to stay awake with Him while He prayed, and they fell asleep. Then the soldiers came, and it happened just as He'd said. Mark tells us,

Then everyone deserted Him and fled.

Mark 14:50

So Jesus knows what it's like to be left. And in the same breath He says, “Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” He went on to the cross and died for our sins, and the Father raised Him on the third day. Because of that, He could say to everyone who follows Him,

And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:20

That promise doesn't make the house less quiet. It does mean the quiet house isn't empty of God.

There's one more line worth hearing. In Psalm sixty-eight, David sings this about God.

God settles the lonely in families

Psalm 68:6a

Often He does that through His people. The church is meant to be a family that isn't made by blood. That isn't a promise the loneliness will lift this week. It shows what God likes to do. And sometimes the next step is small. A message to someone you haven't seen in a while. Staying for coffee after church. Saying yes to an invitation you'd usually turn down.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, I come to You through Jesus. His friends left Him alone, and He still went on to die for my sins. You raised Him from the dead, and He's promised to be with me always. By Your Spirit, You live in me, so even here, on my own, I'm not by myself.

Father, You've always loved Your Son, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And You made me for love too. You saw that it wasn't good for the man to be alone, and You see me this morning. You're the God who turns toward people. You came near to us in Jesus, and He ate with people nobody else wanted at their table.

I'm lonely, Father. It's there when I wake up, and it's there when I go to sleep. The troubles of my heart have grown. I've stopped expecting anyone to call. Some days I've pulled back from people, and then felt hurt that nobody came looking. I've filled the silence with noise so I wouldn't have to feel it. I've told myself that if people really knew me, they wouldn't want to be near me. And sometimes I've doubted that You care. Forgive me where I've shut people out, and where I've shut You out.

Turn to me today, and be gracious to me. Let me know You're near, more than as an idea. Settle me in a family, the way Your word says You do. Give me one real friend, or bring back one I've lost touch with. Give me courage to reach out first, even if I'm afraid of being a bother. And open my eyes to someone else who's lonely, so I can be a friend to them. If I'm part of a church, help me let people in there. If I'm not, lead me to one where I can belong. And where loneliness has made me bitter about other people, soften me.

Your word says, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” I'm holding on to that. I don't know when this lonely season will end, and I'm trusting You with it. If no one else notices me today, You will. You already have. Even on the days nobody calls, I'm still Yours, and nothing can separate me from Your love in Christ.

Be with others who woke up alone this morning. With an older man who hasn't spoken to anyone since Sunday. With a student far from home, who keeps telling their parents everything's fine. With a young mother at home all day with a baby, missing grown-up conversation. Turn to them too, Father, and be gracious. And show me who You'd like me to call.

Father, I woke up to a quiet house again, and the quiet hurts. I'm bringing that to You first. I'm praying David's words. “Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.” Be near me while I get ready. If I go out today, let me really see the people I pass, and say more than a quick hello. Give me courage to send one message to someone I miss. When evening comes and the house goes quiet again, keep me company there too. Your Son said, “And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Let me believe it today.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from the close of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

2 Corinthians 13:14