When You Don't Know What to Pray

When You Don't Know What to Pray
"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."
--John 14:16
There are times when we don't really know what or how to pray.
Maybe you are overwhelmed by a burden. You find yourself discouraged, depressed, and overwhelmed. It is at that point that the Holy Spirit will help you.
Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as a "comforter." In John 14:16, He said, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever" (KJV).

The Comforter
We have lost the meaning of the word "comforter." It comes from the Greek word Paracletos, which means "called alongside to help," a helper, aide, or assistant.
Some versions translate Paracletos as the word "advocate," which is applied to Jesus in 1 John 2:1: "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous."
The purpose of an advocate is to plead the cause of another, an intercessor. This is part of the work that the Holy Spirit has come to do in your life.

Sometimes a sigh will do
Why? Because we don't always have to put words to our prayers.
Here's the good news--sometimes just a sigh or groan will do. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
Trust me, I have done this many times, especially recently. I don't know what to say, or how to say it. I just know that I am in pain, so I sigh, I groan, and sometimes I cry.
That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. As Romans 8:26-27 tells us, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

--Greg Laurie Daily Devotions. Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries.

Today is the National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Remember to pray for our nation regularly, but especially today!

The Key to Answered Prayer
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."--John 15:7

How often have you felt that your prayers were hitting a glass ceiling--as though the Lord were saying no?
Maybe it is because you are praying outside of His will. Maybe it is because you were praying for something that God didn't want you to have.
We need to remember the promise Jesus spoke of in John 15, which says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." Another translation puts it this way: "If you maintain a living communion with Me and My words are at home with you, you can ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires, and it is yours."
I really like that translation--especially the part that tells us to ask at once whatever our hearts desire. But let's remember the condition: "If you maintain a living communion with Me and My words are at home with you. . . . "
If you are maintaining a living communion with God, and His words are at home with you, then your desires going to change. Your prayers will not necessarily be the same as they were before.
As you get in sync with the will of God, you'll see that prayer is not getting God to do what you want Him to do, but that prayer is getting you to do what God wants you to do.
You will discover the important truth that prayer is not bending God our way--it is bending us His way. And then, you just may see your prayers being answered in the affirmative.

--Greg Laurie Daily Devotions. Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries.