Praying When You Don't Know What to Say

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Have you ever sat down to pray and realized your mind

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is already somewhere else? Author Paul Miller knows what

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that feels like. He describes years of feeling like a prayer

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failure. His thoughts wandered constantly. He didn't have fancy

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words, and life was chaotic. Along with ministry demands, he

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had a special needs daughter and other family pressures. He often

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came to prayer exhausted and distracted, wondering if God

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even heard his fragmented thoughts. In a world that makes

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prayer sound like something for spiritual people with focused

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minds and eloquent words, why would someone who feels like a

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mess keep showing up?

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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart LeJay, and

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today we're talking about what to do when you sit down to pray

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and the words just won't come. Romans 8, 26 and 27 says, and

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the Holy Spirit helps in our weaknesses. For example, we

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don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit

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prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

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And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is

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saying. For the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with

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God's own will. That passage is one of the most comforting

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promises in all of Scripture for anyone who has ever felt like a

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prayer failure. Notice what it says. The Holy Spirit helps us

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in our weakness. Not in our strength, not when we have it

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all together, but in our weakness. That's exactly where

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most of us find ourselves when we try to pray. We don't know

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what to say. We're not sure what God wants us to pray for. Our

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minds wander. Our words feel clumsy, and we wonder if we're

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doing it wrong. And right there, in that weakness, the Holy

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Spirit steps in. He prays for us with groanings that cannot be

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expressed in words. He takes our fragmented, distracted,

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half-formed prayers, and he translates them into petitions

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that align perfectly with God's will. You don't have to be

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eloquent. You don't have to have a focused mind. You don't even

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have to know what you need. Because the Spirit knows, and

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the Father knows, and when you show up to pray, even when it

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feels like a mess, God receives it. When we understand that,

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it'll change everything about how we approach prayer. Prayer

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isn't a performance. It's not about impressing God with the

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right vocabulary or the perfect posture. Do we kneel down? Do we

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clasp our hands or close our eyes or keep them open? It's not

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about any of that. It's about showing up honestly and trusting

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that the Holy Spirit is at work, even when you can't see it or

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feel it. Some of the most powerful prayers in the Bible

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are short and simple. Peter sinking in the water. Lord, save

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me. The tax collector in the temple. God, have mercy on me. A

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sinner. The thief on the cross. Jesus, remember me. None of

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those were necessarily eloquent, but all of them were heard.

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Maybe you've been avoiding prayer because you feel like

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you're bad at it. Maybe you've convinced yourself that God

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wants something from you that you can't give. Some level of

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focus or spirituality you don't have. But Romans 8 says the

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opposite. Your weakness is exactly where the Spirit meets

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you. In his book, A Praying Life, Paul Miller shares how he

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stopped trying to pray right and started praying honestly.

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Scattered thoughts, repeated requests, and all. He even began

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using simple tools like prayer cards to help his wandering mind

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stay anchored. The breakthrough wasn't finding better words.

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Miller's journey reminds us that God isn't waiting for the

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perfect, polished prayers. He's just waiting for honest hearts.

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Just showing up, even with a wandering mind, and no idea what

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to say is an act of faith. The Spirit translates your mess into

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petitions that align with God's will. Maybe that's exactly what

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you need to hear today. You don't have to fix your prayer

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life before you come to God. You just have to come, sit down, be

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honest, and say, Lord, I don't even know what to say right now.

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And trust that the Spirit is interceding for you in that very

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moment. Here's today's challenge. Sometime today, set aside five

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minutes to pray. Not to perform, but just to show up. If your

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mind wanders, gently bring it back. If you run out of words,

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sit in silence and trust the Holy Spirit is praying for you.

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You might even say out loud, Holy Spirit, I don't know what

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to pray. Please intercede for me. And if it helps, try writing

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down a few simple things. One thing you're grateful for, one

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person you want to pray for, and maybe one need you're carrying.

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And just tell those to God. Don't worry. He isn't grading

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your prayer. He's hearing what's in your heart. Lord, thank you

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that we don't have to have the right words to come to you.

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Thank you that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don't

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know what to say. Help us stop striving for perfect prayers and

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simply show up with honest hearts. Meet us in our weakness

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and translate our scattered thoughts into petitions that

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align with your will. In Jesus' name, Amen. If this episode

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encouraged you, would you share it with someone who might be

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struggling in their prayer life? Just send them the link from the

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show notes. They may need this reminder that showing up is

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enough. Thanks for joining me today on Daily Devotions for

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Busy Lives. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for you when

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words fail. Just showing up to pray is enough. Come back next

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time for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's

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truth. Until then, God bless and have a great day.