Welcome to the prayers of rest podcast. I'm your host, Ashrida Choochoo, and this week in our

praying through hard emotion season, we are praying through loneliness. And this is a time of year

that is hard, I know, for many of us.

As others gather with family and loved ones, many of us struggle with feeling lonely and unseen and unknown.

And so I hope that this week, this prayer, and the interview later this week, will serve to invite you in God's presence when you're struggling with loneliness.

But before we begin, if you are listening to this episode in real time, we're airing this the second week of Advent.

Just in case you're following along with my Advent devotional, unwrapping the names of Jesus,

I wanted to make you aware that last year we recorded a special season of prayers of rest

titled Praying Through the Names of Jesus.

You can find those prayers by scrolling back in your feed to December 2020 episodes,

or you can go to unwrapping the names.com and find that special Advent season of praying through the names of Jesus.

I hope it's a blessing to you and your family.

As we begin, find a quiet place and take a deep breath as we enter into

God's presence together. Today's reading comes from Psalm 73, verses 23 and 24.

Yet I am always with you.

You hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel.

And afterward, you will take me into glory.

Let's begin by reciting God's goodness, praising Him for who he is and for what he has done in our lives.

Lord God, thank you that you will never leave us.

We will never forsake us. Thank you that you will never leave us. We will never forsake us.

Even when other people in our lives, those we know and love and trust, even if they turn

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