Episode #43 Pray Without Knowing What To Say- What God Sees

Hey friend, do you know that God loves it when you talk with him? He enjoys talking with you, and that includes when we bring your needs to him. God loves it when you come to him with the things you need, with the things that are heavy on your heart, with things going on in your life and where you ask him to handle things, where you ask for his care and provision and direction.

But sometimes we don't really know what to pray, or what to pray for. We may know that things are going on, but we're really not even sure what the best outcome would be, and so we don't always know what to even ask God. Even in times when we feel like we know what the best outcome would be, our scope is limited. And so today we're talking about asking God to help us know what to pray for, that we can align our prayers with him. And I love this opportunity because it throws the doors wide open to see and experience God's provision in our lives.

Romans 8:26- 27 says,

"Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, and he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

My first encouragement for us today is that it's okay not to know what to pray for. God is interceding for us. This says that the Spirit intercedes for us when we don't know what to pray, because the Spirit knows God's will for us and he intercedes for us accordingly. It's okay not to know, but we also don't have to settle for just not knowing. We get to ask God. We get to ask God what he is doing in our lives. We get to ask him for insights, for wisdom, for knowledge beyond our own understanding. We get to ask him to let us know what he's doing, that we would be able to pray in agreement with him.

There are times when I am sure I know the best path when I've defaulted to my own knowledge and understanding, and sometimes I'll remember to ask God or it'll just be in his kindness as the days and weeks progress that I start realizing, oh, the thing that I prayed for at first, isn't actually the best thing for me. Sometimes God will straight up tell me, I know that that's the thing that's on your heart right now. That's not the best that I have for you. I'm sure you can look back at seasons in your life when the thing that was the greatest desire in your heart could have been catastrophic if God had actually given it to you. So it's beautiful that we get to receive from God based on his good provision on what he knows is best, and we also get to ask him to loop us in so that we can pray in agreement with him.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray and he says,

"When you pray, pray like this; our father in heaven, hallowed or holy be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

So obviously, Jesus knows how to pray and he's teaching his disciples, which includes us, how to pray, and it begins with a recognition of who God is, that he is holy, he's entirely other and set apart from us. And he is our father with his own kingdom. And so, I'm on earth. I want his kingdom on earth, which includes me as it is done in heaven. Immediately, with enthusiasm and excitement, with full trust, with full faith, with recognition of our sovereign God, we are in his kingdom. God, I want your will done in me as it is in heaven, bringing that recognition that we're relying on his provision, that we're relying on his sovereignty, that we're relying on his redemption, his salvation, his deliverance, and his guidance.

As we're talking with God about things, we get to step back and ask God to give us a different perspective, his perspective, on what we can pray for. I don't want to settle just for my own wisdom for what I think would be the best plan or the way that a prayer ought to be answered. I can look back on seasons of my life where I was asking God to answer a prayer, and the only answer that I would accept from him was a "yes." And there were times when it felt so painful to me because I felt like God wasn't answering me at all. But in reality, he was saying "no", or he was saying, "not right now". And the only frame of reference I had to a prayer being answered was God saying "yes".

But instead, every day, every prayer, every need, we get to come to him and ask him for his will to be done. We get to ask him, God, what would you do? Help me even when I don't know what to pray, even in my weakness as you are interceding for me, because I don't know what to pray. Will you help me understand? Is there a glimpse that you can share with me of your Spirit, what you're praying for me? I want to want that for me too, because I trust you. Whatever needs are on your heart today, I encourage you, bring those to God and also ask him this question.

God, in light of this area, how would you have me pray?

Or maybe even step back after you've talked with him about the things that are heavy on your heart, and ask him for insight about what other things he might want for you to bring to him today. No specific context. No specific circumstance. Just hands open.

God, how would you have me pray? And then engage in that conversation with him.

Have a good talk

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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