Groanings in the Spirit

Prayer is, of course, an attitude as much as an act, and if that be remembered, no perplexity will arise when there is a genuine absence of words as we wait before God. We must not allow the devil to perturb us because we cannot find language with which to unburden ourselves. A groan of the Spirit in us (Romans 8:26) may accomplish more than a volume of words. I think that one of the greatest things I have learned in prayer is to hold up before God individuals, towns, countries, and nations, counting on Him to do His will for them when I do not know what more to ask for. Undoubtedly the ideal thing is to ask definitely, especially in the terms of Holy Writ, for the bedrock of faith is there; but if we should find ourselves going out, out, out in spirit to people and lands with no more audible expression than a heaving sigh of the spirit (Mark 8:12), let us not be troubled or dismayed. The great thing is that we are “praying in the Holy Ghost,”* (Jude 20) and in due season what is in our heart may filter intelligibly into the mind and be formulated upon our lips.