I sat in the CVS Pharmacy parking lot.  Here I was, again.  This time I was not picking up a medication for me for but one of my children.  My stomach churned.  I wanted to be at home, curled up under my electric blanket, safe from heavy cares and concerns.  But my child was sick. Not with a cold, or pink eye, or an ear infection, but with a chronic disease.  It was no longer in remission but it had reared its ugly head again.

When faced with the disturbing symptoms, I did not fall to my knees in prayer.  I watched Netflix.  Every time I tried to pray, I was unsuccessful.  I could not think about it.  Facing reality was too painful.  Thinking of the disease wracking my child’s body broke my heart.  Over and over and over.  Every time I would think about it, I was crushed.

So I watched Netflix.  And read romance novels. And went shopping.  Because my fantasy world did not hurt as much as reality.

Have you ever  been in tough situations like this, when the reality of your life was just too painful to face?

When your divorce was being finalized?
When your body was healing from your abolition?
After you lost your father?
When you lost your job?
When your best friend betrayed you?
When your sister crushed you with her words?
When your child died?

Those are painful places.  Excruciating experiences.  They are circumstances that are hard to courageously face, no matter how mature you are.

If you are like me, you may find it hardest to pray when you need to pray the most.   

But will God act on our behalf if we don’t pray?  I believe that in these hard seasons, when we find it hard to pray, that God has us covered.  Imagine a human father…he doesn’t deny his child when his child can’t voice his needs, does he?  In the same way, God does not ignore us when we just can’t pray.

God has a built in support system that prays for us when we can’t pray.

Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

When you look up the word “always” in the Hebrew language, it means always. When you look up the word “lives,” it means lives.

Jesus ALWAYS LIVES to make intercession for us. And intercession isn’t just a piddly prayer. Intercession is going into God’s presence to entreat Him for answers for our problems. It is getting between God and us when we blow it and we need mercy. It is boldly getting in God’s face and earnestly pleading for help.

Jesus’ full time job is sitting at the right hand of God and making intercession for us. He always lives to do it.

When you can’t pray, Jesus is praying for you. You are not alone. Jesus, sitting at the right hand of God, is getting answers for you. He’s working things out for you.

Roman’s 8:26-27 says that the Holy Spirit is also praying for us.

“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. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

When we can’t pray, the Holy Spirit can.  And does.

In your wordless moments, when you feel helpless and hopeless, the Holy Spirit is praying. FOR YOU.Click To Tweet

Lastly, when we can’t pray, those who love us can.  We need to reach out and share our burdens with others so that they can pray for us.  The Bible tells us that we should share our burdens with others.

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2  

Who can you tell about the situation that feels like it will drown you?

Take courage my friend, for when you find yourself speechless at the throne of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and friends can and do pray for you.

Save

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.