“As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” – Psalm 42:1
Some weeks feel like deserts.
We go through the motions, but joy is dry. Prayer feels like a stretch. Hope is something we know we should feel, but don’t. It’s in these dry places that Psalm 42 meets us.
The writer doesn’t pretend. Rather they speak plainly: “My tears have been my food day and night.” They remember better days: the sound of worship, the feeling of closeness to God. But now, all of that feels far away. And yet, even in the desert, they speak this truth to their own soul: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him.”
That’s what longing sounds like when it refuses to give up.
To thirst for God is itself a kind of prayer, an ache that pulls us back toward the One who is Living Water. We may not always find God in the ways we used to. But the thirst, the longing, means the connection isn’t lost. It’s just waiting to be found again.
So if you’re in a dry place, you’re not alone. Even the psalmist wandered through that desert. And still, a quiet hope grew.
Reflective questions for this week:
- Where do you feel spiritual thirst right now? What’s missing or dry in your inner life?
- What “streams” have sustained you in the past? Worship? Community? Time in nature?
This week, return to one of those “watering places,” even briefly. Go for a walk. Light a candle. Whisper a breath prayer: “My soul thirsts for you, O God.”
When words fail, and prayer seems difficult, here are some words to carry with you:
O God, when I feel dry, be my stream. When I feel far, draw me close. I thirst for you. Amen.
