Prayer for a Doubting Heart

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. I bring You my questions, because I suspect You are less afraid of them than I am. The suffering I cannot explain. The prayers that seemed to go nowhere. The distance between the faith I inherited and the doubts I actually have. Thank You that doubt is not the opposite of faith; pretending is. Thank You for every honest doubter You welcomed: Thomas with his questions, the psalmists with their complaints, the father who said exactly what I feel. I do not ask You to answer everything. I ask You to hold me while the questions work. Give me companions who can sit with mystery without needing to win arguments. Keep me from both cynicism and pretending. And on the days when I cannot reach You, let this be enough: that You are reaching for me. Amen.