All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others

When you do not know what to pray

When you do not know what to pray.

Matthew 9.18-26; Romans 8.26-27

It was a magnificent sunny June day in Newport Beach, Ca., and to say the ‘surf was up’ was an understatement—fact is, there was an epic swell. My boy was up well before sunrise to drive the 35 miles or so to catch the surf before school, and right back after class that Friday afternoon in 2013. The Wedge is both famous and infamous for her waves that draw scores, many just to shoot pictures or stand in awe on the shore and watch. For Dylan, the Friday night ‘sesh’ netted him a burst eardrum, as a wave crashing off the jetty caught him right upside the head. Instantly, he was caught in the wash-- 1

unable to tell up from down--

being tossed like a ragdoll until some nearby surfers drug him to shore.

My last trip to Flagstaff to see him, he asked me if I have ever been in a situation that I thought I might not get out of … then he put into tell me about a late May snowfall that compelled him to grab his snowboard and hike up Arizona’s highest peak, Mount Humphreys, at some 12,000+ feet. (yeah, he had to climb it as the lifts were closed for the season; ski patrol long since changed into their shorts for summer) Of course, he made the 4 ½ hour trek alone because no one else would do it. Unfortunately, a storm came blowing in, and suddenly he was at the top of the mountain in whiteout conditions,

unsure of which way to go, which path to take…2

Here’s the thing ~ sometimes in life, we are just that torn, unsure which is the best direction to take, the right decision to make—

we find ourselves unsure of what or how to pray.

Sometimes the enormity of our situation silences us. How to form words to God then? How to pray? I have been there. At these times, I think of myself like the woman in the crowd in Matthew 9.18-26, who lunged to touch Jesus and caught only the hem of his garment. ‘O, if I could just touch him, I would be made whole!’ She thought that. I have thought that. I had no words, but I had an image—I was that woman, desperate for Jesus to come and do what only he could do.

Paul described how the sweet Holy Spirit takes our morsel of faith at that time and turns it into a prayer before God—

In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak.

We don’t know what we should pray for.

But the Spirit himself prays for us.

He prays with groans too deep for words.

God, who looks into our hearts,

knows the mind of the Spirit.

And the Spirit prays for God’s people

just as God wants him to pray. Romans 8.26,27 – these verses are keepers, arrows for your quiver.3

At times, our prayers are not necessarily in words; they are emotions deep within our souls. Like the words of this old hymn:

“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed,

the motion of a hidden fire, that trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear,

the upward glancing of an eye, when none but God is near.”4

Friend, if you find yourself in a space where you are not sure what to pray~

Try this: quiet yourself, picture yourself reaching to touch Jesus—yup, the hem of his garment is sufficient—and speak his name. God knows what you need. Prayer does not always require words.

Christine

Christine DiGiacomo
www.pastorwoman.com ;

1 - http://www.ocweekly.com/slideshow/huge-swell-the-wedge-june-2013-39...;

2 – yes, he obviously made it down the mountain—after dark—around 7 pm.

3– Romans 8.26-27. These verses are so powerful, so empowering. When we do not know what to pray, God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us—he prays to the Father on our behalf. I so love him.

4 - Hymn by James Montgomery, (1771-1854)