When we’re overwhelmed by a problem, it’s easy to just sit and worry about it. We can obsess over a million things we have no power to change.

Sometimes, sharing with others can be a big encouragement. We need the perspective of others, and their words of comfort can bring real relief. But other times, the opposite is true. When we open up and people shut us down, we feel even more alone. Just ask Job about his three counsellors.

We should bring our troubles to God in prayer. He wants to bear our burdens and walk with us through our trials. But often our worries overwhelm even our prayers. What starts as an appeal for God to bring relief can turn into an exercise in anxious worry. When that happens, you may find that it helps to write, but in a specific way.

Where is God at work? What do you really need?

I stumbled into the value of this kind of writing by accident. As a missionary, I wrote prayer letters every couple of months to honestly describe our ministry, highlighting areas where we were grateful for God's work and where we were seeking His help. I came to find that the very act of writing these letters gave me insight and perspective that I would have missed without them.

As I looked for God’s hand in our often difficult circumstances, I saw more cause for thanksgiving than I would otherwise have noticed. Until I took the time to write, I focused on the negatives and overlooked the positives. And slowing down to write about what I was asking God to do made my needs more clear and my circumstances less overwhelming.

Re-evaluating a painful flop

As we launched our church plant to what felt like a resounding failure, I was forced to look for God. We had invested in relationships, advertising, invitations, and preparations for our first Sunday, and not a single person from the community came. Discouraged wasn’t an adequate description of my feelings. But as I wrote, I was moved to gratefulness at how excited one of our kids had been at the message. I reaffirmed that I was there out of obedience to God not a hunger for success. And I was reminded of the things that truly mattered – none of which were undone by the setback of that day.

People who suffer in the Bible are always doing this

As I experienced the encouragement of writing out my experiences in light of where God was at work and where I was seeking His help, I began to see people all over the Bible doing the same. The Book of Lamentations, for instance, literally starts with a moan. The first word in Hebrew is an expression of grief. But the raw statements of pain are arranged in a very careful poetic form. The author is venting but doing so carefully, almost methodically. And so it’s no surprise that the complaints eventually give way to praise. Conscious of God in his suffering, he gives us some of the most hopeful words in all Scripture:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

- Lamentations 3:22-24

Not everyone is a writer, and we’re just commanded to pray not write out our prayers. But if you find your worries overtaking your prayers, it might help you to put pen to paper. May God minister His comfort in your life as you do.

In awe of Him,

Paul