READ: ROMANS 8:26-27, 31-34

Every time I called the dog’s name, my family laughed. Now that I’m older, I understand why.

I grew up near my uncle Andy, who had a dog named Shep. I adored Uncle Andy and liked his dog too. But—as a child—I couldn’t pronounce “Shep.” Try as I might, the dog’s name sounded like “Botch” every time I spoke it. I understood the name Shep; I just couldn’t get the word out when I pronounced it.

Have you ever tried to say what was on your mind, but you just couldn’t seem to verbalize it? Have you felt this way in your prayers—attempting to call out to God for what you or a loved one needed, but just unable to form the right words?

Throughout the Bible, we read about God’s people crying out to Him in prayer. These believers showed a range of emotions as they talked with God about what they were going through and asked for answers to their problems. When we begin a relationship with God, He gives us that same privilege of prayer. We can enter a relationship with God by putting our trust in Jesus. He died and rose again to provide forgiveness for our sins and to adopt us as God’s beloved children. In this relationship, we can freely approach God’s throne through prayer (Hebrews 4:14-16).

But what happens when we don’t know what words to use as we speak to God? When we long to follow His call in Lamentations 2:19 to “pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord,” but we can’t find the vocabulary? There’s good news: God the Holy Spirit prays to God the Father on our behalf. The Spirit intercedes, asking the Father for what we need. And Jesus—God the Son—also talks to the Father for us.

In our prayers, we’re not on our own. We can rest in the knowledge that Jesus and the Holy Spirit both pray for us, and God knows our hearts better than we know ourselves. • Allison Wilson Lee

• What concerns or needs are weighing on your heart today? Do you feel like you can pray about them?

• How could it be comforting to remember that God knows all our thoughts and needs before we say a word? How could this free us to talk to God without pressure? (Psalm 139:4; Matthew 6:8)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26 (NIV)