Wednesday, August 3, 2011

When you don't know what to pray

Sometimes I know exactly what I want to pray. Sometimes I can present God with a thought through, detailed list of exactly what I am pretty sure I need from him.

But sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I just don’t know what to pray. Sometimes things are too painful or confounding to be put into orderly coherent prayers. Sometimes I don’t understand what is going on in myself or others well enough to know what to ask.

I’ve been finding myself in don’t know what to pray situations a bit lately. When that happens I’ve been taking great comfort in what Paul has to say in Romans 8:26-27

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

I think there are two big encouragements here. One is that God is not distant from our problems. The spirit is interceding on our behalf! Pretty amazing to think that the members of the trinity are talking to each other about our problems! Another encouragement here is that whether we know and can coherently express what needs to be prayed for is not ultimately important. The spirit understands our hearts and the will of God even when we do not.

So when you pray, don’t panic that you do not know what to pray. Just pray however you are able and trust that God knows perfectly even when you express imperfectly. Trust that even when your prayers feel weak, the intercession of the spirit on your behalf is powerful.

Comments (6)

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When I do not know what to pray, I tend to go to my prayer books. I like Phyllis Tickle's series Divine Hours. There are four in the series roughly one a quarter. Here is the link to Prayers for Summertime http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Hours-Prayers-Summer...

I grew up in a low church background that never used written prayers. I have found in the last couple years as I have explored them, that fixed hour prayer and written prayers really have great value, especially when you don't feel like praying or worshiping.
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1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Thanks Adam. Written prayers isn't something I've used much of in my personal prayer time (although the church I attend uses them in services) but it sounds like it could be helpful.
Great post and a much needed one at that :) I've struggled and I know many others that struggle with the idea that their prayers feel "weak" sometimes so it's cool keep this reminder close to the vest.

Thanks :)
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1 reply · active 710 weeks ago
Thanks Marcus! Glad it's helpful.
Good stuff Joanna. I think it is a great reminder that God isn't concerned with the amount of words we pray or the orthodoxy of it all. It's just simple conversation and when the words are not there the Spirit covers our lack of words. Thanks for sharing!
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1 reply · active 709 weeks ago
Thanks Justin. That the amount of words doesn't matter is definitely something I have to remind myself as I tend to pray shorter prayers, particularly when praying in groups.

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