When You Don’t Know What to Pray For

man-888591_640When we find ourselves in situations of depression, grief, hardship or other mental or physical pain it can sometimes be difficult to put into words how exactly we feel or what we need to cope. It is rather unfortunate that unless a person has gone through similar pain or has made a concerted effort to be sympathetic and compassionate it can be difficult to find a non-critical shoulder to cry on.  What’s even worse is that this attitude is prevalent even among fellow Christians.

What can we do?

Who can we talk to?

How can we find help even if we don’t have the words?

Prayer.  You don’t need to be articulate to pray.  There’s no need to be bashful or embarrassed about your situation.  You just need to be open with your heavenly Father to ask for help – even if you don’t know what that help needs to be. There may even be times we have something specific in mind, but it may not be the right path.  We have to be persistent and keep our eyes and ears open to an answer when it does come.

“The problem is that we do not know what we should pray for.Rom. 8:26.

Social networking and text messaging are very popular in this age of technology. By comparison, though, how do we individually rate our personal communication with our best Friend, Jehovah? How often do we take the initiative to speak to him? Some servants of God do not find it easy to open their hearts and express their deep emotions. Yet, that is what Jehovah wants us to do when we pray. (Ps. 119:145; Lam. 3:41) Even if we find such heartfelt expressions difficult to put into words, we are not without help. Paul wrote to Christians in Rome: “The spirit itself pleads for us with unuttered groanings. But the one who searches the hearts knows what the meaning of the spirit is, because it is pleading in harmony with God for the holy ones.” (Rom. 8:26, 27) Our meditating on the words recorded in such Bible books as Job, Psalms, and Proverbs will help us to express our inmost feelings to Jehovah. w14 2/15 4:18, 19” source: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2015/10/27

landscape-691374_1920Though Jehovah God doesn’t take away our pains, trials and tribulations He gives us ways to cope, if we are willing to take advantage of them.  Sometimes we need to take advantage of the privilege of prayer so we can see clearly the help He is rendering on our account.  I consider it a gift that I can speak with my God unencumbered by governments, protocol or security measures. Just think about it – what world leader could you get on the phone at a moments notice to spill your heart out to, have them understand where you are coming from and accurately interpret the things they know you aren’t saying or can’t say?  Not even good, close friends can do that.

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