June 29 | Romans 8:26-30
- Dave Mann
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Praying When it is Hard
By Dave Mann
The favorite verses of many believers are often drawn from Romans 8. The work of the Holy Spirit was clearly at work to inspire the apostle Paul in the writing of these words.
I think it is fair to say that all Christians, at one point or another during their walk in the faith, have found it hard to pray. Life can get complicated. We can be plagued and beset by problems – emotional, medical. Our hearts break for ourselves and for those whom we love. We know that we need the Lord’s help, but we do not know how to pray. We identify with verses 26-28 many times – “We do not know what we ought to pray.”
We may even feel a bit dishonest in that we may have a position of responsibility in the church, in our families, or in a small group. People may look to us for guidance and wise counsel, but we ourselves can feel weak and confused. We want to pray what is in accord with God’s will, but we do not know the direction that the Holy Spirit wants us to go. We not only look to God for the answer to our prayers, but we also look to God to find the right words to pray in the first place. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.... the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” We may pray with groans and sighs that don’t have a place in our human dictionaries, but they certainly have a place in prayer. We can metaphorically crawl up into the lap of our Father and just snuggle in.
“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” As we pray with the Spirit in sighs and groans, we are reassured that the Holy Spirit is giving us the words that are aligned with God’s will. Our words during such moments of prayer will never be published in a theological tome on the topic of prayer, but the Lord understands our needs and He warms our heart.
We simply acknowledge our need for God. We start our prayer with stuttering and stammering. We may shed tears. Our heart is heavy. Yet, we know that God’s heart is open to our heart. We come to our Father again and again. We know he hears us and will lead us forward in one way or another.
PRAYER
I have often benefited from music to carry my prayers in difficult times. One of my favorites is Craig Courtney’s My Wordless Prayer. Click here and let your heart be carried in music to the throne of God.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVE MANN
I am a Pastor for Internationals (retired) in the UALC community. I am married to Pam, father of four, and grandfather of seven. Pam and I have lived twenty of our years in other countries including France, Cameroon, Haiti, and Morocco. In retirement, we continue to enjoy writing devotionals, learning languages, and teaching English to internationals.