When Your Sorrow Exceeds Words
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for.
But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words.”
Romans 8:26 (NLT)
Sometimes life can be so painful there are just no words to express the anguish of your soul. If you haven’t been there yet, hold on. Sorrow is indiscriminate. It’s only a matter of time. The pain of loss and confusion it brings leaves us wondering how to even pray at times. Yet it’s in these times that we experience God’s help in an unusual but intimate way. The Bible says, “… the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” How does He do that? He “prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Have you ever experienced that? Your heart aches, and you don’t know what God wants you to pray for - you can’t even verbalize the pain you feel. All you can seem to do is groan! Have you ever considered that those groanings are really the Holy Spirit praying for you?
One great theologian said that God is closer to us than we are to our own selves. The sad truth is that most of us never recognize it until we experience a deep loss, and our world seems to crash in on us. In His classic book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis writes, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Paul gives us one of the deepest expressions of prayer in this verse: “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Romans 8:26 (NLT). God has not abandoned us in our pain and confusion. He comes by the Holy Spirit to pray for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And God answers those groanings! He hears our prayer. With God helping us pray like this, we never need to be afraid to come before Him, even when we don’t know what or how to pray.
If you feel this way today, ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you. The very next verse says, “And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Romans 8:27 (NLT)
When you bring your requests before God like this, trust that He will always do what is best.
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.