When You Don’t Know What to Pray
When circumstances drag on and answers don’t come, prayer can begin to feel powerless. The words that once came easily now feel thin, worn out by repetition. We bow our heads, open our mouths, and realize there is nothing left to say that hasn’t already been said. In these moments, prayer can become more like a reminder of how unresolved everything still is.
During such moments the most truthful prayer may not be a sentence, but a posture. Paul acknowledges this reality when he writes that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” and that the Spirit intercedes for us with groans too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). Silence, sighs, and unfinished thoughts are not obstacles to prayer; they are often the very place where prayer begins. God is not limited by our vocabulary, nor confused by our uncertainty.
When we don’t know what to pray, we are invited to release the pressure to perform. Prayer is not a test of spiritual competence; it is an act of trust. Simply showing up—confused, weary, unsure—is itself a form of faith. It says, “God, I am still here,” even when clarity has not yet come.
So if you find yourself without words today, take heart. You are not praying wrongly. You are praying honestly. And sometimes, the prayer that begins with “I don’t know what to pray” is the one that opens us most deeply to the grace and presence of God.
