"When I don't know how to pray"

“When I don’t know how to pray”

  There are life moments we encounter that are incredibly tough to know how to pray through.  We may say to God and to ourselves, “I have no words”,  “I don’t even know what God is doing, how am I supposed to pray...”  “It’s too painful”,  “I am angry”,  “I feel abandoned”,  “This is too dark”,  “My prayers aren’t lofty enough”  “My prayers are too hollow”  and the list goes on and on.  There is no doubt the enemy will often be whispering these things in our ear as we face incredibly challenging times.

  Our God has promised He will never leave or forsake His children (Duet 31:8 and several others).  We might not feel His presence, we may still feel brokenness, BUT  He will be there with us, by our side.

  It brings great comfort to know that we don’t even need to “know” the words to pray when we are walking through the storm.  In the great chapter Romans 8, verse 26 says: 

  “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

 This verse brings great comfort, that in this promise, the Holy Spirit will search our hearts, our emotion, pain, questioning, and doubt- and will intercede for us in accordance to God’s will.  What an amazing work of the Spirit, and what an awesome, thoughtful and loving God to attribute this work (on our behalf) to the Holy Spirit!  How loving a God sets something like this up?  Truly an amazing gift during our times of hardship.

  Look at this in context of the surrounding verses.

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  

It’s awesome when you consider the verse in context!  We have a hope in the coming glory when we all will be liberated from this bondage of decay.  Sin has broken this created world; the world and those of us in it are groaning for this coming redemptive glory.  Yet, God in His love and wisdom has provided us a way of connecting with Him through the Holy Spirit= Absolutely Amazing.

May God work in and through our storms to bring about good for His purposes.  In those storms, may we allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us as we are “being still” before the Father.