If you had to describe how your heart feels today in one word… what would it be?
 
A while ago, mine would’ve been, “Exhausted.”
 
I’m a young Cuban woman, and together with my husband, we said “Yes” to something we knew came from God: serving in another country, another culture, another reality. It sounds inspiring when you say it quickly, but the process… was a different story.
 
Seven months before leaving, everything started falling apart.
 
We had no money.
 No visas.
 No clarity.
 
And I didn’t have the emotional support I expected. My family didn’t understand. My siblings questioned everything. My parents just couldn’t see what I saw.
 
My mind was constant noise.
 My heart… heavier every day.
 
I entered a season of deep sadness, anxiety, and frustration. And in the middle of all that, something happened that I never thought I’d admit: 
 
I forgot how to pray.

When you don’t have words anymore

It wasn’t that I stopped believing in God.
 I just didn’t know how to talk to Him anymore.
 
I kept praying, hoping everything would change fast—finances, paperwork, my family’s opinion… but nothing moved.
 
And that’s when everything started to shift.
 
Not outside.
 Inside.
 
Instead of trying to come up with the “right words,” I started doing something different: 
I began praying through Scripture.

Light for today, not the whole map

One verse became my anchor: 
 
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
 
I wanted to see the full plan.
 God was only giving me light for the next step.
 
And honestly… that frustrated me.
 
But over time, I realized something important: 
 God wasn’t withholding direction—He was teaching me dependence.
 
His Word started doing something in me.
 It didn’t fix everything, but it held me together enough to take one more step.

Speaking to your soul (even when it won’t listen)

There was another turning point. I reached a place where my emotions felt louder than my faith.
 
And then this verse found me: 
 
“Why, my soul, are you downcast…? Put your hope in God.”
 
It confronted me.
 
Because usually, we let our emotions speak to us: 
 “Everything is falling apart.” “This won’t work.” “You can’t do this.”
 
But here, it’s the opposite: 
 You speak to your soul.
 
I learned to do something uncomfortable but powerful: 
 Remind my heart who God is—even when I didn’t feel it.
 
It wasn’t about denying my feelings.
 It was about not letting them have the final word.

Letting go of control (for real).

Then came the hardest part: surrender.
 
Jesus Himself lived it: 
 “Father… not my will, but Yours be done.”
 
I was praying, but deep down, I was still trying to control the outcome.
 
I wanted God to do things my way.
 
But surrender isn’t saying, “whatever, I give up.”
 It’s saying, “God, I trust You—even when I don’t understand anything right now.”
 
And that… changes everything about how you walk through the process.

You’re not meant to do this alone

Another thing I learned: I wasn’t designed to go through this on my own.
 
There were moments when my faith was so weak, I literally needed other people to believe for me.
 
People who prayed.
 Who listened.
 Who held me up.
 
We often think being strong means handling everything in silence.
 But real strength is also knowing when to ask for help.

The miracle no one sees

And here’s the craziest part: 
 
The biggest miracle wasn’t that everything got fixed.
 
It was that, before anything changed on the outside… 
 I was already at peace.
 
My heart stopped racing.
 My mind stopped fighting.
 My soul… was at rest.
 
And then, little by little, God started to take care of everything else.

When God speaks to others too

There’s one more moment I’ll never forget.
 
During those seven months, my mom—who didn’t understand our decision at all—had a dream.
 
She saw a place in vivid detail.
 And she saw my husband and me working there.
 
The next day, she received a prayer newsletter.
 On the cover, there was a photo.
 
It was exactly the same place she had seen.
 
Every detail.
 
And when she read the name…
 it was the exact place where we’ve now been serving for the past two years.
 
God wasn’t just working in me.
 He was speaking to her too.

Maybe this is for you too.

I don’t know where you are right now.
 
Maybe you’re waiting for something that hasn’t happened.
 Maybe you feel misunderstood.
 Maybe you’re tired of praying and not seeing results.
 
But if there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s this:

Prayer works… just not always the way we expect.

Sometimes it doesn’t change the situation first.
 Because God is healing something deeper.
 
Your heart.
 Your perspective.
 Your relationship with Him.
 
And when that changes… 
 everything else feels different.

In the end…

Prayer isn’t a way to escape the process.
 
It’s the place where God transforms you while you walk through it.
 
And yes, eventually things do change.
 
But you’re no longer the same person who started.
 
And trust me… 
 that’s the real miracle.