WHEN WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO PRAY

We are Weak and Don’t Know How to Pray

“We are weak and do not know how to pray, so the Spirit steps in and articulates prayers for us with groaning too profound for words.” [Romans 8:26] As hard as I tried, I couldn’t find a way to tweet the entire sentence, even in parts. The last section “with groaning too profound for words” explains how the Spirit prays for us. Some experiences in life defy words—even in prayer.

When life is going according to plan, prayer is easy. It doesn’t take strength to praise God or thank God when all is right in our personal world. It’s when life careens out of control that prayer gets tough. How do we pray when we face a friend who has searched unsuccessfully for work, a child who can’t be rescued from an abusive home, a marriage careening toward divorce, or a sibling with stage five cancer?

In situations like these, we’re exhausted by fury, helplessness, and sorrow. Any words we might pray get swallowed up by an anguished Why? Those are the times we’re weak and don’t know how to pray. That’s when God’s Spirit prays for us—with prayers that go deeper than words. But who is the Spirit? The Spirit goes by other names: Comforter, Helper, Friend, Advocate, Counselor. Whatever name the Spirit goes by, Jesus sent the Spirit to help us when he returned to the Father. (John, chapter 14.)

When I was in my mid-thirties, I lived through a time when I had no words to pray with. During those years I encountered the Spirit and prayers articulated for me from my groans. Struggling to understand, I wrote this poem:

COMFORTER

Climbing the ladder of music

up into chaos

gulping deep breaths of God

from encompassing pain,

flying stubborn and straight

into blue battering wind

chanting “Immanuel,

Immanuel, Immanuel,”

I release with bloodied fingernails

my picture of resurrection

and weave myself into the warp

and woof of hope.