<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don\u2019t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(Romans 8:26)<\/span><\/p>\n Prayer is often expressed in words, our words. God values words. Words matter and words mean things. We know the power of language.\u00a0The ability to speak reflects the image of\u00a0God himself who created the universe with words. <\/span><\/p>\n Jesus is described as \u201cThe Word made flesh.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But sometimes our communication with God goes deeper than language can capture. We know from human communication that non-verbal signals are a bigger portion of what we say than what we \u201csay\u201d in language. \u201cBody language\u201d and tone of voice can trump the literal meaning of words.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prayer can also be non-verbal. The Bible mentions all kinds of \u201cbody language\u201d postures for prayer: kneeling, raising hands, clapping, shouting, lying face down\u2026 There are dozens. So in those times you don\u2019t know what to say to God, resort to something beyond words.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In those moments we are not alone; The Spirit of God comes to our aid to coach us and coax us into what we \u201cmean\u201d beyond what we can\u2019t express.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps today all you can muster is a \u201cgroan\u201d or a sigh in prayer. Maybe you just need to kneel and be still and quiet. Maybe you need to go out into the woods and shout! Well and good! God can leverage our wordless expressions and turn them into a genuine and complete appeal. We may not understand, but he certainly does.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Today, try praying without a word. Allow the Holy Spirit to pray through you, and watch how God answers.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cAnd the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don\u2019t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.\u201d\u00a0(Romans 8:26) Prayer is often expressed in words, our words. God values words. Words matter and words mean things.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[600,1740,598,117,599,601],"class_list":["post-1479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-groan","tag-holy-spirit","tag-posture","tag-prayer-3","tag-praying-in-the-holy-spirit","tag-romans-826"],"yoast_head":"\n