You and I pray the same generic prayers over and over again because we often do not know what to pray for. We often have no clue, other than praying for others, what to pray for when we bow our heads. Unless something big is going on in your life, you probably struggle with prayer.
We’re not alone. People all over the world who bow their heads before the Father in prayer often struggle with this same thing. We don’t know what to pray for. We end up saying the same generic things when we do pray and we wonder if we’re just going through the motions or if our prayers are actually meaningful.
So, what should we do?
I say keep praying. When you understand the 3 awesome truths below, you’ll be encouraged to keep praying, to keep bowing before the Father.
3 Awesome Truths That Will Set You Free When You Pray
1. When you pray, the Holy Spirit is praying alongside you, interceding on your behalf.
Romans 8:26 (ESV)
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Paul knew that people struggled with prayer. So in light of knowing that truth, he shares with the Roman Christians, and with us, an awesome truth about prayer: the Holy Spirit prays for you when you pray.[shareable]This is awesome: the Holy Spirit prays for you when you pray![/shareable]
The Spirit knows the deepest desires and needs of your heart. The Spirit can search your heart and know what you need even when you don’t. When you’re praying for nourishment from your food, the Spirit is interceding for you with the real needs you have.
This isn’t to say that we should not pray for what we think we need to pray for, but that the Holy Spirit is helping you. The Spirit is your prayer partner no matter where you are praying and no matter when you are praying. The Spirit is always there with you, for you are His residence.
2. When you pray, Jesus is at the right hand of God, interceding on your behalf.
Romans 8:34 (ESV)
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
As a side-note, it seems, Paul throws in (a little after his prior statement about the Holy Spirit interceding) another amazing truth about prayer: Jesus has the ear of the Father and He is interceding for you. Paul’s main point here is that because Jesus is at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf, we can rest assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Hebrews 7:25 speaks to this truth as well.
Even though this isn’t Paul’s main point it is an amazing truth. Just picture this: you bow your head to pray, not knowing what to pray for, but you do it any way. While you’re doing this, the Spirit is taking your real request, real need, to the throne of the Father. At the right hand of the Father is the Christ, Jesus Himself, and He is interceding on your behalf.
The loving Father has your request before Him from the Holy Spirit and He has the Son in His ear on your behalf regarding your true request.
You see, God is intimately involved in your prayer life. [shareable]God is intimately involved in your prayer life![/shareable]
3. Your prayers matter more to God than they do to you.
There is an amazing picture of this found in John’s letter to the persecuted churches of Asia Minor, namely, Revelation. He explains what he sees when the prayers of the Saints, otherwise known as the golden bowls of incense (Revelation 5:8), come into the throne room. The whole event can be read in Revelation 8:1-5.
What happens before the prayers of the Saints arrive is 30 minutes of silence. It appears that this is to prepare for receiving these prayers.
Here’s the point in bringing this up: your prayers stop Heaven in its tracks. This is because your prayers matter more to God than they do to you.
Don’t ever doubt whether or not God cares about your prayers. He absolutely does.[shareable]Your prayers matter more to God than they do to you.[/shareable]
Be Free When You Pray
You don’t have to think that your inability to pray what you ought (Romans 8:26) is keeping your deepest prayers from going before the Father. You’re not alone in this. The Holy Spirit is your constant prayer partner and He absolutely knows what He is doing. The Son, Jesus Christ, is at the right hand of the Father, bending His ear on your behalf. Isn’t that amazing?! God is intimately involved in your prayer life and He cares more about your prayers than you do.
A Surefire Way to Know What to Pray For
Stay tuned for this Friday’s article where I’ll share with you a surefire way to know what to pray for.
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[button href=”http://eepurl.com/2Gvhr” primary=”true” centered=”false” newwindow=”true”]I’m in![/button]
