6 Powerful Prayers For When You Feel Discouraged

Psalm 42:5-11 NIV

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

    Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

    for I will yet praise him,

    my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me;

    therefore I will remember you

from the land of the Jordan,

    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep

    in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

    have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love,

    at night his song is with me—

    a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock,

    “Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

    oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony

    as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long,

    “Where is your God?”

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

    Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

    for I will yet praise him,

    my Savior and my God.

Psalm 31:9-12 NIV

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;

    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

    my soul and body with grief.

My life is consumed by anguish

    and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,[a]

    and my bones grow weak.

Because of all my enemies,

    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

and an object of dread to my closest friends—

    those who see me on the street flee from me.

I am forgotten as though I were dead;

    I have become like broken pottery.

Psalm 102 NIV

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.

Hear my prayer, Lord;

    let my cry for help come to you.

Do not hide your face from me

    when I am in distress.

Turn your ear to me;

    when I call, answer me quickly.

For my days vanish like smoke;

    my bones burn like glowing embers

My heart is blighted and withered like grass;

    I forget to eat my food.

In my distress I groan aloud

    and am reduced to skin and bones.

I am like a desert owl,

    like an owl among the ruins.

I lie awake; I have become

    like a bird alone on a roof.

All day long my enemies taunt me;

    those who rail against me use my name as a curse.

For I eat ashes as my food

    and mingle my drink with tears

because of your great wrath,

    for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

My days are like the evening shadow;

    I wither away like grass.

But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;

    your renown endures through all generations.

You will arise and have compassion on Zion,

    for it is time to show favor to her;

    the appointed time has come.

For her stones are dear to your servants;

    her very dust moves them to pity.

The nations will fear the name of the Lord,

    all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

For the Lord will rebuild Zion

    and appear in his glory.

He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;

    he will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for a future generation,

    that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:

“The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,

    from heaven he viewed the earth,

to hear the groans of the prisoners

    and release those condemned to death.”

So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion

    and his praise in Jerusalem

when the peoples and the kingdoms

    assemble to worship the Lord.

In the course of my life[b] he broke my strength;

    he cut short my days.

 So I said:

“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;

    your years go on through all generations.

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain;

    they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

    and they will be discarded.

But you remain the same,

    and your years will never end.

The children of your servants will live in your presence;

    their descendants will be established before you.”

Psalm 119:137-144 NIV

You are righteous, Lord,

    and your laws are right.

The statutes you have laid down are righteous;

    they are fully trustworthy.

My zeal wears me out,

    for my enemies ignore your words.

Your promises have been thoroughly tested,

    and your servant loves them.

Though I am lowly and despised,

    I do not forget your precepts.

Your righteousness is everlasting

    and your law is true.

Trouble and distress have come upon me,

    but your commands give me delight.

Your statutes are always righteous;

    give me understanding that I may live.

Psalm 119:81-88 NIV

My soul faints with longing for your salvation,

    but I have put my hope in your word.

My eyes fail, looking for your promise;

    I say, “When will you comfort me?”

Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,

    I do not forget your decrees.

How long must your servant wait?

    When will you punish my persecutors?

The arrogant dig pits to trap me,

    contrary to your law.

All your commands are trustworthy;

    help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

They almost wiped me from the earth,

    but I have not forsaken your precepts.

In your unfailing love preserve my life,

    that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

Psalm 4 NIV

Answer me when I call to you,

    my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

    have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

How long will you people turn my glory into shame?

    How long will you love delusions and seek false gods[b]?[c]

Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;

    the Lord hears when I call to him.

Tremble and[d] do not sin;

    when you are on your beds,

    search your hearts and be silent.

Offer the sacrifices of the righteous

    and trust in the Lord.

Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”

    Let the light of your face shine on us.

Fill my heart with joy

    when their grain and new wine abound.

In peace I will lie down and sleep,

    for you alone, Lord,

    make me dwell in safety.