Dear God,

I have been so miserable.

God, no one seems to see the real me. No one seems to understand.

I can't believe what people say to me. And do to me. It's unreal.

God, I don't know what to say or ask.

Help me!

I trust this prayer opens a way for You to help me now.

I know You do not blame me for feeling the way I do.

Instead, You reach out to me now and touch me with Your love.

You comfort me and tell me, somehow—so I understand it's really You—

That I matter. I matter to You. And I matter to this world.

God, I am willing to grow up. I am willing to be in this world.

God, help me go on. Change things so I know I matter.

By Your Grace, You change my life and my mind for my good.

You fill me with new and better ideas about who I am.

You give me new interests that make me want to get up in the morning.

You send me friends that really care about me and reach out to me.

And You open the eyes of my parents and my family.

And, Lord, if anyone in my household abuses me—

—and You understand what I mean—

You stop it NOW.

You give me courage to speak up and get real help.

You fill me with the power to help myself.

You do whatever it takes—through me and others—so I am safe at home.

And You open the eyes of my teachers so they see the real me.

They stop being afraid that I'm just going to be trouble for them.

They see my soul and honor it. And I honor theirs.

Lord, my life starts to get better today.

I start to have fun and enjoy my life.

And, in thanks for Your help, I start to notice.

I start to notice the changes that are taking place.

I trust that more and better changes are happening.

And I talk to You every day and thank You for each one.

I tell You the changes that I see. And I tell You how much better I feel.

You love me so much. You think I'm beautiful and smart and wonderful.

And, when I am ready, Lord, I say the truth that You know:

I AM wonderful. I AM good. And I AM needed.

By Your Grace, I now understand:

You are counting on me to be here. You need me. You really need me.

So I choose to be on my side and tell myself only good things about myself.

I stop being afraid there is something wrong with me.

Because no matter what anyone says, my soul is part of You.

And, no matter what anyone says or does,

You need me to get through this and live.

Because I'm going to help other people connect with each other.

I will help the world be less lonely and afraid.

I will help people understand things they do not understand now.

And I will do for others what was not done for me until now.

And this will make me very happy.

I have important work to do. And with Your help, I'm going to do it.

Thank You for loving me. Thank You for giving me new reasons to live.

Thank You for giving me a life I love.

And so it is.

Amen.