One of the most comforting truths I’ve learned is that prayer doesn’t depend on our eloquence (although, as a professional writing major, this comes in handy quite often). Sometimes we don’t know exactly what to say. Sometimes we’re too tired, overwhelmed or confused to form the right words. Or maybe you’re not gifted in that way, and that’s okay!
Scripture reminds us that the Holy Spirit and Jesus also intercede for us. This means that they mediate between us and God the Father, that they talk to Him for us when we can’t formulate our thoughts.
Romans 8:26-28 affirms this and 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. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
That means even when we can’t articulate what we’re feeling, God knows. He knows exactly what we’re trying to pray for.
So if you’ve ever asked, How do I pray when I don’t know how? — you’re not alone, and there is a universal solution. Prayer can be as simple as a sigh, a thought, a moment of stillness. It can be a whispered “thank you” or a silent “help.” It doesn’t have to be perfect at all. It just has to be for God.
The Protestant theologian Martin Luther once said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”1 That’s the kind of prayer life we’re invited into — constant, and not pressured, but breathing.
