I sat in my quiet time this morning, but the words wouldn’t come.
Have you ever been there?
You want to pray but you don’t know what to say. You have listened as people shared their stories and the things they are going through, and you can’t fix it. You have watched as our world gets a little more unkind every day, and you wonder why we aren’t doing more about that.
You see prejudice flaunted and it makes you want to weep. You see the refugee child separated from her mama, and you wonder why we aren’t telling the world how wrong that is.
So you go to God and you know that your voice is one of millions bending his ear. Yet deep inside you trust that he’s listening to each of us, and he’s near. But you still don’t know what to say.
It’s just too big. Too hard to know what to ask.
When that happens, maybe like me, the temptation is to not speak at all to this God who loves us so very much. Yet when we do that, our bottled up words swirl in our thoughts, show up in our dreams, and try to rob us of joy.
So, what can we do?
When I don’t have the words, I let the words from scripture become my prayer. I hold those sacred pages in my hands and I let them say what I cannot.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (Matthew 25:25-36)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Maybe I can’t say what is in my heart, but scriptures like these remind me that God cares about these things too and that offers hope.
When I don’t know what to do, or even know how to ask what God wants me to do, I read this next scripture and it soothes my soul.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (John 16:13)
Suddenly, I sense the weight falling off my heart. I still don’t have words — at least, my own, but I am promised that the Holy Spirit will lead me into truth, so I will wait for direction to come and I will say yes as he leads.
I write down those scriptures in my journal. It produces the smallest of prayers.
Align my heart with yours, Lord, in these matters. Let these words guide me. Show me. Don’t let my lack of words keep me from coming to you, for you are all I need.
And this prayer is enough. For he sees my heart.
He sees yours, too.
And as his words become our prayer, he’s listening to every single word.
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-:13)
Suzie
Today, will you share the scripture that is your prayer? Let’s encourage one another with his words.
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This helped me so much. There are times when I feel like I say the same prayers over and over because I don’t know what say. I would rather do what you have suggested than repeat myself.
Thank you so much 🙏
God knows our hearts 💜🙏🏻
I feel the same as Robin. I keep repeating and feel like God is saying you say that all the time
He knows our every thought – He loves us with unconditional love – He has perfect plan for us
all we have to do is tell Him how much we love Him and are so thankful for His LOVE, MERCY
AND GRACE .
imam having one of those days. We have had several tragedies that have affected families close to us. It causes so many questions and also the feeling of not knowing what to pray. I lean into this verse from Proverbs
5 Trust in the Lord(A) with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
Rhonda, lifting you and your family up on prayer.
Job 5:8-11
As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
9 who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
10 he gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
11 he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
Praying God comforts you through these family tragedies and rains down blessings on you.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matt 11:28-30 (KJV)
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
These two and many more have gotten me through a VERY long season of prayer.
Mathew 6:33-34 Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be given unto you. Don’t worry about tomorrow, today has enough troubles of it’s own.
This is one of my verses I speak each morning. This reminds me to seek him first in my day so I can push through. It’s a great comfort to me to know he has this. Life is so big, but he is much bigger.
ALL things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and called according to His purposes.-Romans 8:28.
It may seem cliche, but I am learning to look for the silver lining each experience is either a blessing or a lesson(and sometimes it’s both). I have personalized Psalm 46:5, God is within me, I will not fall. He will help me at the break of day.
I like to recite Matthew 6: 33-34 every morning before I get out of bed as a way to ground myself in today’s good and not so good and not let my anxiety run rampant throughout each day.
I really enjoyed this post!!
Psalm 84:11 which says God is our sun and our shield and promises “no good thing will He withhold from the one who walks uprightly”. Not everything we think is good is best. We tend to seek happy, not holy; comfortable, rather than stretching. I have to trust the He is wiser, pure in motivation, and seeking the best, the good. If He withholds something from us for a season, it is because it is not good for me then, even when it seems good to me.
And Psalm 34:18 promises that “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saved those who are crushed in spirit.” He is near and offers the comfort and strength I cannot always offer. But I can use my gifts right here, right now, to minister to those He brings into my path.
Heb. 13:5b,6 (ESV) — “. . . for he has said,’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'” This verse is the bedrock of my faith, weak as it seems at times to be. I thank God for your post, and for the comments made thus far. They have blessed me this morning!
Philippians 4:13 reminds me that “I can do all thing through Him who strengthens me”. So it becomes my prayer in hard and difficult times where I need strength but do not have it myself.
God, “I was so foolish and ignorant— I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but you, God, remain the strength of my heart; You are mine forever.” Psalm 73:22-26 NLT
Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you “, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you ,plans to give you hope and a future.
1 Corinthians 12:9-10: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Nikki,
Living with chronic illnessand pain this is one of my favorite verses to rely on! Thank you for sharing it.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.””
2 Corinthians 5:20
This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!
And now abides faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13
I have 2 scriptures taped to my computer and I often use these when words won’t come. They are Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” and Ephesians 4:29 b “Let everything you say be good and helpful, sot that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” I pray these scriptures will bring peace, encouragement, and energy to you today.
“Love is patient, Love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” and “I can do ALL things through Christ that strengthens me” I had the craziest dream last night, first dream like it. I was walking with Jesus and all of sudden Jesus was capture and these four men were trying to release a shark on him (two were holding him down and the other two men had the shark), and they said if you are really the SON of God this shark will not bite you, we going to let the shark Go and see what happens and Jesus cried out and said by your belief and faith Annie this shark will not bite me. BELIEVE ANNIE, BELIEVE in GOD! It kinda stayed with me..
When I can’t pray because of personal things going on in my family or with friends, I rely on all the scriptures everyone has already listed
to bring me peace. But, when I can’t pray because I just feel so helpless in what to do about all the things that hurt us all so much that
is going on in our world, I like to rely on strong scriptures that remind me that the battle has already been won. 1st Timothy 6:12 states,
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the
presence of many witnesses.” And also, 2 Cor. 10:4, “For the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but they are mighty before God
for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.”
Amen!! Wonderful, powerful words of hope.
So beautiful! and much needed!!
Thank You
Sometimes, just saying Jesus is all you need and the Spirit helps us when we don’t know how to pray. Romans 8:26
Our God knows us better than we know ourselves. We can just sit in His presence in silence as He begins to heal us.
I’m grateful for the Holy Spirit that intercedes when I can’t form the words – God knows the prayers of our hearts!!!!! I find it difficult to verbalize the prayers during tough times. Calling out to Jesus is sometimes the only thing I can do.
I am Pandora and I love to pray. I come into prayers daily knowing it is the most intimate time I can ever have with God. Prayer is very sacred to me.
During the war in my country, I was the oldest of 4 by then age 12 -13 years old. I watched my mother pray one prayer that made me to know, prayers was powerful and sacred. She would pray “Lord make my house disappear.” That prayer taught me a lot about prayers. Because I remembered, in the morning we would wake up to everything around us demolished but our home still standing, untouched, by stray bullets or RPG’s. There and then I found out that prayers were powerful.
So today, when I get down to pray, I begin by exalting God knowing he has been with me since childhood and that he has a plan and a purpose for my life. That is why my verse during prayers is Jeremiah 29:11. I believed he had preserved me over these years for a reason and it is my prayers that I will walk with him till he calls me home. So anytime I am praying, I pray using verses simply because it is a confirmation of his word over my life.
What a beautiful example and trstimony, by your mother, of the power of prayer! So grateful God preserved your home and family during that time and you are here to share God’s great mercy and love.
Pandora, wow. Just wow. I am amazed by your story, my friend.
I pray each day that the Lord would give me His perfect peace according to Philippians 4:6-7…”Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, continue to make known your petitions to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus” He knows that when I have His peace, I can continue with my petitions trusting Him to bring an outcome that brings glory to His name. I am assured that God has an eternal viewpoint that will culminate in the best possible outcome for all concerned. It leaves me to let Him work with my manipulating a situation and rely on my methods (which ultimately are finite and fail.)
Thank you for this outstanding way of giving us prayer as a way to employ His Word and rely on His faithfulness and mercy.
I meant to say in the last sentence of the first paragraph that I would NOT rely on my manipulating a situation and relying on my methods (which ultimately are finite and fail). I didn’t edit my paragraph well and SELF is definitely not God’s way of dealing with our petitions and prayers.
Wow, I was so blessed not only by this devotion, but by reading all the verses the brothers and sisters put in the comments! How awesome! Thank you all.