When Prayer Doesn't Come Easily

Struggling in Prayer

Scripture Focus: Romans 8: 26-27

“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 with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” NIV

Have you ever found yourself just not knowing how to pray? You may be new to prayer, or maybe you have been praying all of your life. It makes no difference. We all struggle with prayer at some point in our lives and it can be very frustrating. Often we find ourselves feeling much like the disciples did, pleading in Luke, “Lord teach us to pray!” You may feel guilty or stressed out, knowing what you want or need to say and just not being able to s-s-s-spit it out or feeling like you just can’t get your point across. Even the greatest of Apostles, Paul, struggled with prayer.

However, HOPE for your prayers is in God’s word, as Paul tells us in
Romans. The hope is we are not alone in our ignorant prayers. The Holy Spirit is with us and is interceding on our behalf!

Have you ever been to another country where you didn’t know the language? I remember traveling to Mexico City with my grandfather when I was in the seventh grade. I knew a little Spanish, but nothing that could get me by. However, everywhere we went, my grandfather, fluent in Spanish, would easily explain to the waiter, shop owner, tour-guide or whomever, my requests or questions. I couldn’t articulate my thoughts and needs, but my grandfather could.

This is how the Holy Spirit intervenes in our prayers; He is our translator.
As I studied more about this idea, I have come to treasure even more the sovereignty of God’s creation and plan. He knew our needs and provided the most adept of all helpers in the Holy Spirit!

So, what is the result of the Spirit’s intercession for us? Pastor Steve Weaver says, “The good news is that God knows the mind of the Spirit and therefore understands His unspoken groanings. Those unspoken groanings of the Spirit are intercession for us according to the will of God!” We are not alone in our prayers because the Holy Spirit is within us, constantly intermediating with God on our behalf!

So the next time you are feeling like you just don’t know the words to say, or you feel like they aren’t good enough, remember it isn’t up to you to make the words perfect. You are only asked to pray to the best of your ability in God’s will and then KNOW the Holy Spirit, as He was created by the Holy designer Himself to do, will take care of the rest!

Father, we praise your sovereignty and wisdom in creating an intercessor in the Holy Spirit. Because we are not perfect, we thank you for loving us anyway and knowing our needs before we do! Lord God, we praise you for being so much bigger than we will ever be able to comprehend in our mortal lifetime. We ask for your guidance and help in our prayer lives so that we may get to know you better and better each time we attempt to utter a prayer to you. In Jesus’s name, Amen.


Other scriptures to reference:

Luke 11:1-4
Jeremiah 17:10
Hebrews 7:25-26; 9:24