God, 

I never thought I’d be here praying this prayer, but I need your guidance right now. 

Someone I love — someone who once walked with you, someone who once believed, has turned away from your light, and I don’t know how to reach them. I don’t know what to do to remind them that your love is still there, waiting with open arms, for them to return.

I see the doubt in their eyes, God. I can hear the hurt in the way they speak about their journey right now. I know deep down in my soul that there is a reason they have let you go, but I wish I could make them see what I see. I wish I could make them feel what I feel when I think of you. I want to remind them of your goodness, of your presence, of the love within you that has carried me through every dark or challenging moment I’ve weathered. But no matter how much I want that for them — I can’t make them believe right now, God. I can’t seem to break through.

And while I’ve come to realize that that journey, and that bond, is between you and them, it’s still difficult for me to accept, God. 

I worry about them. I worry that they’re lost, and that they’re searching for meaning in places that will never satisfy them or calm their soul. I worry that the pain, and the questions, and the disappointments that turned them away will keep them from ever coming back. But I have faith in you, God. I know that no one is too far gone for you. I know that even when they walk away, you never stop pursuing them, you never turn your back. 

So I’m asking you, God — please don’t let them go. Speak to their heart in ways I can’t. Show up in their quiet moments, in the places they least expect to find you. Meet them in their doubt. Hold them in their anger. Calm them in their confusion. Let them see that you were never the problem, that you were always the only one who could heal the wounds that are weighing them down.

And help me, Lord. Help me to love them well, no matter where they stand in their faith. Keep me from pushing them further away with my own fear, or my own frustration. Remind me that my job isn’t to save them — it’s to love them. It’s to be a reflection of you in their life, even when they don’t want to hear your name.

I trust you with them, God, because no one who is truly yours is ever lost, is ever abandoned. I will continue to believe, with everything inside of me, that you are still writing their story. I will continue to have faith in the fact that you are always going to be there to welcome them home.

Amen