What if I do not know how to pray?

God takes us all on very different and interesting roads of learning. One of the difficult roads, and one that opened my eyes wide to my own shortcomings was when I was a house painter and working with a man named Eddie. He began asking me questions about things he saw in my life that were different than he saw in the world. I loved sharing with Eddie how Jesus was changing every thing in my life, beginning with the way I thought. Each time I shared I would give Scriptures for him to read. Whenever I would ask what he thought about the Scriptures he would have an excuse for why he had not read. Finally, one time he said “I do not own a Bible.”  So I gave him one…he began to cry and then looked very wounded…and painfully stated, “I don’t know how to read!” I was speechless and very angry at my own ignorance. I missed it completely!  

As we look at the 3^rd reason why we should pray I hope we will all be comforted by this Truth, unlike me, who can be clueless to someone’s inability to succeed in communication, the Holy Spirit not only knows what difficulties we have, but has the answer to each problem!

Let’s review: We should take advantaged of prayer because,

       {1} Because of Christ we "are not our own", we belong 

         to Him, not ourselves.

         {2} We have the Key that opens the Door - His Name!

One of the enemy’s ploys is to help us complicate things. God, on the other hand, always brings simplicity to Truth. I cannot tell you how many individuals I have counseled, that are paralyzed in trying to pray because they feel they do not have the right “formula.” God deals with that in a simplistic way! This is our third reason why we should look forward to communing with our Lord.

{3} Because we are frail we do not always know how to pray - The Spirit prays for us!

Perhaps your burden is so deep you do not know how to share it with the Lord, or your emotions are so out of control that your mind is running every direction. RELAX, quiet yourself and just be still before the Lord. God has placed in us His Spirit and He will bring our heart before the Lord, even to the point where the Spirit will share the deepest things in our heart that we might not even be aware of.

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.

Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

The So What: Have you ever found yourself speechless as you approach God? What do you do? Would you be willing to just stop moving, stop trying to figure it all out, and just sit before the Lord and allow His Spirit to communicate? Just because you do not know how to speak, does not mean God does not hear!