A Prayer for Strength

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
— Isaiah 40:31

There's a kind of tired that sleep doesn't fix — the kind that settles into the bones and stays, no matter how early we went to bed. It's not always the body that's spent. Sometimes it's the will, or the hope, or just the plain ability to get up and do the next thing on the list. And when that happens, the verse doesn't say try harder. It says wait. Wait on the Lord. Which is the hardest thing to do when everything in us is screaming that we need to keep moving.

Lord, I am running out of my own strength and we both know it.
I have pushed and pushed, and there is nothing left in me to push with.
So I am going to do the thing I should have done first: I am going to wait on you.
Renew what I cannot renew on my own. Give me the next step — not the whole staircase, just the next one.
And if the eagles come, I will take them gladly. But today I would settle for the strength to walk and not faint.
Amen.

The older I get, the less interested I am in strength that comes from white-knuckling through. That kind runs out. The verse promises something different — a strength that comes from stopping, not pushing. Waiting on the Lord is not sitting idle. It's opening the hands and admitting they're empty, which is the bravest thing a tired person can do. The renewal comes after the admission. It always does.

Say it on the hard days — the ones where getting up is the whole victory. Ruby writes a short devotional every morning in the same spirit: a verse, and a few honest words before the day begins. You can subscribe — it's free, or stay a while and read more of her writing.