A year ago, before I started Wait! What? Worship. I listened to Broken Prayers by Riley Clemmons from her debut album Riley Clemmons (2018) constantly. Recently I’ve been reminded of it, and through my daily reading of Psalms, I hear new depth and truth in this song.

For ages I wouldn’t talk to God, I just didn’t know what to say or how to approach prayer. And the change from then to now hasn’t come from learning how to pray, it’s come from learning about the God I’m praying to.

I’ve been taught how to talk to you,
Hold it together, make the bad look better,
Say all the words that I’m supposed to,
Bow my head, say amen, yeah that’ll do,
Making every dead end look like heaven,
Like being okay’s the way to reach you,

But you’re not afraid of all the things I feel,
So why am I afraid of being real…

You want my tears,
Every messy word,
Every scar and every fear,
You want all I have,
With no holding back,
When I’m hurt,
At my worst,
You meet me there,
Cause you see the beauty,
In my broken prayers.

Our Father, the first line of the Lord’s Prayer. I’m talking to a father figure, a caring, gracious and loving one. I can talk about my struggles, my hopes and my fears, all the time knowing that He loves me, knows me and wants to be with me.

I must remember who I’m talking to when I pray. He is wise, powerful and has a knowledge far greater than mine. I trust Him to make sense of my midnight rambles, my cries of pain and the longings of my heart.

You don’t care if it ain’t poetry,
Cause all my edges, they’re a little rough,
But that’s all I got to bring.

Broken Prayers – Riley Clemmons