Lord, Help Me to Pray

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Scripture: Romans 8:26-27 (NRSV)          
“26 Likewise 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. 27 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.”
 
Devotion:
          Some days I find it really hard to pray. On some days my body cries out that I am just too tired and when I try to pray I fall fast asleep. On other days my spirit fails me. And some days I just forget to pray at all. Therefore, I take great comfort in these two verses from the book of Romans.
          I am certain that many people have these problems and perhaps many other problems that keep them from praying as they feel they should. The good news for all of us pray-ers is that God knows all that is in our hearts both the good and the bad, both the glory and the sin. And knowing all that is in our hearts God will act to help us in our weakness anyway.
          Another thing that we need to keep in mind when we are having a hard time praying is that prayer can be hard work. We only need to look at Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and see how he labored in prayer. Others in the Bible also experienced difficulty in prayer, Elijah, Jonah, and even Moses reached the end of their rope and wanted to give up on God altogether. God never gave up on them, and I am certain God will never give up on us.
          I admit that sometimes I am afraid to pray about issues that come up in my life. Things these days can be so complex. There are no clear answers. Here again we need to remember that we can just lift the whole situation up to God and say as Jesus did in the garden: “Not my will but yours be done.” This is not taking the easy way out. It a simple acknowledgement that God is God and we are not so we must trust God to know what is the best outcome for the purposes of the Kingdom.
          I admit that I also hinder my own prayers. I come to God with the results I expect God will produce from my prayer and wonder why my prayer is not answered. We need to know the difference between asking God for what we want/need, and telling God what we want, and how we want it, and are disappointed when God does not obey us!
          Finally I will offer one suggestion that has helped me when I am struggling in prayer. I take some deep breaths and simply recite the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked how to pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed is your name. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive others debts to us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
          For yours are the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen.

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