Sighs Too Deep for Words

A father was listening to his child playing in the other room when he heard her repeating the alphabet in a tone of voice that sounded like a prayer. When he asked her what she was doing, the little girl explained: “I’m praying, but I can’t think of exactly the right words, so I’m just saying all the letters. God will put them together for me because He knows what I’m thinking.”

In a sermon some time ago, my friend Charlie Landreth preached from Romans 8, where Paul writes, “For we do not know how to pray as we ought…” In his message, Charlie reminded us that there are times when we feel a deep need to pray, and yet words escape us.

Maybe when you look at the violence and heartache in the world around us, you are grieved by the senseless loss of life. Maybe there are times when that grief can feel so overwhelming that it is hard to know even where to begin with a prayer. Or perhaps you have a loved one who is near the end of life and you want to hang onto every precious moment, but you also know that your loved one is suffering and the quality of life is not there. It is hard to know how to pray or what to pray for. Or maybe you are dealing with a troubled teen or a relationship that is falling apart, and you are not sure what kind of outcome to hope for.

Paul’s words speak to us, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26)

Let us pray: Loving and gracious God, we thank you that even when we don’t know how to pray, your Spirit intercedes in us and for us. Hear – even now – our deepest cries and hurts… Heal us, redeem us, and help us in our weakness; we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.