When You Can't Even Pray

           Tears come streaming down my face as I clinch my hair between my pale fingers. My knees dig craters into the carpet. Words tremble out of my mouth making incomprehensible patterns as I realize that I’m speechless.

            I can’t even pray. So, I let the salty droplets race down my cheeks to the fibers covering the floor and wait.

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            Many days (or middle of the nights) I’ve held this posture in prayer—speechless and desperate for comfort and answers.

            Sometimes, I’ve had a really bad week and am just stressed out to the max or my heart is heavy over a loved one who’s messed up in one way or another or I’m broken over the brokenness in our world or I’ve slipped away and need to come back again, but whatever the situation, in these moments, I have no idea what to pray or how to.

            Maybe you’ve been in this situation before (or will be) and you feel as if all hope is gone. Maybe you need someone to sort things out and deliver the message to God because you don’t understand the situation yourself. Well, the good news is that someone is capable of interpreting your blurry words and speechless souls. He doesn’t need your words or your understanding. He knows your needs and wants, and He knows exactly how to express them when you can’t.

            Romans 8:26 states, “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” (NIV).

            The Holy Spirit powers through our weakness and delivers a more accurate message to God than what we could ever think up. He knows our needs and intercedes for us.

            Even when you’re at your weakest, He is strong and wise. Never forget that someone is praying for you even if you can’t pray for yourself, and the One who does, loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas