God, this is my prayer: I’m struggling to keep going.

An Honest Talk About Trusting God When Life Hurts

I want us to be honest for a second—really honest. Let’s have a raw, heart-to-heart conversation. No pretending. No hiding. Just naked feelings.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve been disappointed in my walk with God. There were moments when I prayed, and nothing changed. Times when I trusted, but things still fell apart. Times when I expected a breakthrough, but instead, I was met with silence. And in those moments, I felt forgotten. Overlooked. Frustrated with God.

People don’t talk about this enough—the disappointment that can come with faith. We’re told to trust, to believe, to hold on, but what happens when you do all of that and still get hurt? What happens when you fast, when you pray, when you cry out to God, and nothing happens the way you expected?

We often push those feelings aside, sweep them under a rug, and pretend everything is fine. We tell ourselves that “good Christians don’t question God” and that “strong believers don’t struggle with doubt.” So we force a smile, say the right words, and act as if nothing is wrong—when in reality, we’re hanging by a thread.

But pretending doesn’t heal. Ignoring your pain doesn’t make it disappear. It just buries it deeper. And anything buried but not healed will eventually resurface—maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day. It will rise again as frustration, bitterness, anger, a hardened heart, or distance from God.

We don’t even realize it’s happening. The more we suppress our emotions, the heavier they become. At first, it’s just a little disappointment. A little confusion. A little frustration. But over time, it turns into resentment. It becomes silence in prayer. Disengagement from worship. An unspoken ache every time we hear someone say, “God is good.”

And then one day, we wake up and realize… we don’t feel anything anymore. The fire we used to carry has burned out. Not because we stopped believing, but because we stopped dealing with what was slowly chipping away at our faith.

It’s dangerous to pretend you’re okay when you’re not. Because pretending doesn’t bring healing—it only prolongs the pain. And the longer you refuse to confront it, the further it pulls you away from the very God who wants to heal you.

Here’s the truth: it’s okay to say,
“God, I’m hurt.”
“God, I’m angry.”
“God, I don’t feel like talking today.”

It’s better to express how disappointed you are than to stay silent, pretending you’re fine when you’re not. God isn’t afraid of your feelings. He’s not intimidated by your frustration or your doubts. He’s not waiting for you to show up polished and put-together. He would rather have your raw honesty than your rehearsed silence. Your broken version is better than a false one. 

We act like we need to filter our emotions before we bring them to God. As if He doesn’t already know them.

But David didn’t sugarcoat his pain. He cried out, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1).
Job said, “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 10:1).
And Jesus, hanging on the cross, shouted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

If these men—who loved and walked closely with God—could be honest about their pain, why do we feel like we have to hide ours?

So tell me honestly—how many times have you hidden your disappointment, afraid that bringing it up would somehow be wrong? How many times have you prayed, expected, believed, and then… nothing happened? And instead of going back to God and telling Him how you really felt, you hid behind a Bible verse, pretending it didn’t affect you?

How many times have you felt like God didn’t come through, but instead of dealing with it, you just kept going—hoping the feeling would fade? How many times have you said, “God’s ways are higher than mine” (Isaiah 55:8–9) not because you trusted Him, but because you were afraid to say, “I’m disappointed”?
How many times have you said, “All things work together for good” (Romans 8:28), not because you believed it in that moment, but because you didn’t want to admit you felt let down?

We do this all the time. We quote scripture not to strengthen our faith, but to silence our feelings. We convince ourselves that expressing disappointment means we lack faith—that questioning God means we’re bad Christians.

But it doesn’t.

God doesn’t need your performance. He doesn’t need you to act like everything is fine. He doesn’t need rehearsed prayers and fake peace. Faith isn’t pretending. Faith is being real with God—even when it's messy.

You’re human. You were created with emotions. With a heart that breaks and a soul that hurts. It's okay to be disappointed. It's okay to feel frustration. It’s okay to have moments where you don’t understand what God is doing.

What’s not okay is hiding those feelings from Him. Because the moment you start hiding from God, you start distancing yourself from Him. You start building walls instead of bridges. You start believing the lie that your pain is too messy for Him to handle.

But He can handle it.

God is not like people. He doesn’t get uncomfortable with your honesty. He’s not going to walk away just because you’re struggling. He invites you to come as you are—with every burden, every doubt, every tear.

Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.”
Not just the pretty parts. Not just the spiritual parts. All of it.

So if you’re hurt, tell Him.
If you’re confused, tell Him.
If you’re disappointed, tell Him.
Because the only way to heal is to bring it to the One who can handle it.

And I want to remind you of something else.
Faith is not a promise of a pain-free life.

Jesus never said, “Follow Me and you’ll never suffer.” In fact, He said the opposite:
“In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

You will get hurt. You will feel pain. Life will break you sometimes. That’s reality—even as a believer. But your faith is not supposed to shield you from it; it’s supposed to carry you through it.

Look at David. A man after God’s own heart, yet he was hunted, betrayed, and broken.
Look at Job. Called “blameless” by God, yet he lost everything.
Look at Paul. He gave his life to Christ and endured beatings, imprisonment, and shipwrecks.

None of them were spared from pain. But all of them were sustained through it.

So why do we expect our faith to exempt us?

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that if we prayed hard enough, served faithfully enough, and lived righteously enough, we’d avoid pain. So when hardship comes, we feel betrayed, like God failed us.

But God never promised to prevent the storm. He promised to be with us in it.
Faith isn’t the absence of pain. It’s the anchor in the middle of it.

And when it comes to unanswered prayers, when the thing you asked for is delayed—or never comes at all—remember this:

God doesn’t owe you anything.

Faith is not a transaction. It’s not “I pray, You give.” God is not a vending machine. He is a good Father. And sometimes, His love sounds like silence. Sometimes, His protection looks like a “no.” And sometimes, He says, “wait”—not because He’s withholding, but because He’s preparing.

Isaiah 55:8–9 says,
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways... as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

I know how frustrating that can be.

You pray. You fast. You believe. And the door stays closed. The healing doesn’t come. The opportunity passes. And it feels like God is ignoring you.

But listen:
His delays are not His denials.
And His “no” is not proof that He’s forgotten you.

Sometimes you don’t get what you want because it’s not the right time.
Sometimes it’s not what you truly need.
And sometimes… it’s because God is setting up something even greater.

Look at Lazarus in John 11. Jesus delayed, and Lazarus died. From the outside, it looked like failure. But Jesus wasn’t late. He was preparing for resurrection.

Look at Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. He prayed for the thorn to be removed. But instead, God said,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul didn’t get what he wanted.
But he got something deeper—grace that sustained him.

So no, it’s not easy.
But just because you don’t see what God is doing doesn’t mean He’s not working.

You may not always get the answer you hoped for.
But what you will always have is a God who is good.
A God who is present.
A God who would rather you come to Him in pieces than not come at all.

So don’t hide.
Be honest.
Let Him into the hurt.
Because healing begins where honesty lives.

Amen.