Foundations

Praying When You Have No Words

Most of us learned to pray by copying people who were good at it. This is about praying when you are not.

📖 Romans 8:26–27

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Sermon notes

Prayer is not a performance

If prayer were a skill, God would have given us a manual. Instead he gave us a Spirit who prays on our behalf when we cannot.

When you are stuck

Say the truth, even if the truth is "I do not want to be here."
Use somebody else's words. The Psalms exist for exactly this.
Say nothing and stay. Sitting with God counts.

What this church does

Nobody here has to pray out loud, ever. If you want prayer and cannot ask for it, write it on the wall — anonymously if that helps.

Questions to talk about

Good for a small group, a family meal, or on your own with a notebook.

1What made you stop praying the last time you stopped?
2Which Psalm could you borrow this week?
3Is there something you have never said to God out loud?

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