PRAYER (5)

“For we do not know what we should pray for.” Ro 8:26 NKJV

Prayer works like the 911 emergency system. All you need to do is dial those numbers and you’re instantly connected to a dispatcher. In front of the dispatcher is a readout that lists your telephone number, address, and your name. Also listening in are the police, the fire department and the paramedics. You might not be able to say what the problem is. Perhaps a loved one has just suffered a heart attack and you are so out of control that all you can do is scream into the telephone. No problem. The dispatcher doesn’t need all the details. He knows where the call is coming from, and help is on the way. There are times in our desperation and pain when we pray 911 prayers. We’re overwhelmed. Sometimes we don’t know the words to speak. But God hears. He knows our name and our situation. Help is on the way; He’s already begun to bring the remedy. “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (vv. 26-28 NKJV). Speaking of prayer, John Bunyan said, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.”

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