Have you ever struggled with what or how to pray about something? I think that we all have. I know that I have. The desire to pray about it is there, but the words just do not come, or we get distracted away from the task at hand and our urgent prayer becomes a fleeting thought. If one gets frustrated enough with this aspect of praying, one might just give up and stop praying all together. But let's think about that for a minute. What you just read would mean that we stop talking to God. How can that be a good thing?
When I am teaching about prayer, I talk about the frustration that occurs sometimes when we try to pray. (One of my biggest frustrations is that as I am praying right before I go to sleep, that my mind wanders and I fall off to sleep very quickly--it makes me feel like I am one of the disciples that Jesus rebukes in the Garden of Gethsemane). I think that Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer for such a reason. It is a perfect prayer that includes a wide scope of things, everything really that faithful people would need to pray about. So if you are struggling to come up with the words, don't hesitate to pray the Lord's prayer--besides, God knows what you are struggling with already!
St. Paul also offers us further encouragement. In Romans 8 he writes:
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. Romans 8:26
What a comfort this is for us, to know that God sends us His Holy Spirit to help us out when we don't know what to pray. Perhaps we should be praying for the Holy Spirit's help and guidance more often. Something to think about. In the meantime, may the Lord our God bless you with a fruitful and abundant prayer life, that you may communicate with Him at all times and in all places, and under any circumstances.
God Bless you and thanks for reading!
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