When You Don’t Know What to Pray

I have been speaking on the topic of the Holy Spirit recently at church. One of the things the Holy Spirit does in our lives is help us with our prayers.

Why? Because there are times when we don’t really know what or how to pray. Maybe you are overwhelmed by a burden. You find yourself discouraged, depressed, and overwhelmed. It is at that point that the Holy Spirit will help you.

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as a “comforter.” In John 14:16, He said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (KJV).

The Comforter

We have lost the meaning of the word “comforter.” It comes from the Greek word Paracletos, which means “called alongside to help,” a helper, aide, or assistant.

Some versions translate Paracletos as the word “advocate,” which is applied to Jesus in 1 John 2:1: “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous” (NKJV).

The purpose of an advocate is to plead the cause of another, an intercessor. This is part of the work that the Holy Spirit has come to do in your life.

Sometimes a sigh will do

Why? Because we don’t always have to put words to our prayers.

Here’s the good news–sometimes just a sigh or groan will do.  The Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Trust me, I have done this many times, especially recently. I don’t know what to say, or how to say it. I just know that I am in pain, so I sigh, I groan, and sometimes I cry.

That’s where the Holy Spirit comes in.

Romans 8:26-27 tells us, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

What does that mean, “The Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will”? I’ll get to that tomorrow.