The Pun
The Prayer
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: "You seem far away": “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalms 10:1)
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: "I don't feel heard": “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (Psalms 13:1-2)
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: "I feel abandoned":
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (Psalms 22:1)
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: "I don't feel protected by You”:
“For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Psalms 43:2)
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: "I don't feel loved”:
“O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?” (Psalms 74:1)
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: "It doesn't seem fair”:
“O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?” (Psalms 94:3)
Sometimes the prayer begins by saying: “God, I can’t pray”:
"How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4)
Sometimes the prayerful journey towards closeness to God begins with a cold confession of how far away I feel. But that is just the beginning, not the end.