Prayer perplexity
Do you know what we should pray? Frankly, I often don’t know. In view of some of these experiences, words simply stick in my throat. I would like to turn to my God and Father, but I usually find myself empty-handed and without words. Paul writes in Romans:
“… For we do not know what to ask …”
Rom 8:26 Rev. Elbf.
Of course, this statement does not stand in a vacuum. We cannot simply take such a text out of context and interpret it arbitrarily. Paul, however, as an apostle called by God (Rom 1:1), does not know everything either. If you may be used to some believers “seeming to know everything,” Paul stands in a different position and states unequivocally that he does not know something. And not only he does not know something. He specifically says, “we don ‘t know.” In doing so, he includes the believers. It is a statement of the current state of faith, as well as a reflection of real life. I find that amazing. It affects him, and it affects the communities as well, where people of all walks of life come together.
Paul does not say that you cannot know – he is not an agnostic. There is only one thing he does not know, and he describes it here in the Epistle to the Romans. We’ll get to that in a moment. Generally speaking, we probably move between “knowing everything” and “knowing nothing.” That is what makes us human. We are limited in understanding. For example, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Something we know, something else we do not know. Because this is so, we can also learn, there is growth and development. Reduced to a certain point in time, however, we can come to the realization that we don ‘t know everything right now. This is also true of prayer, and it can be tantamount to liberation.
Prayer for the service
People talk to God. Prayer is the natural turning of a person toward God. There are countless examples of this throughout Scripture. We know from Jesus that He withdrew again and again to pray:
“In those days it came to pass that He [Jesus] went up into a mountain to pray; and He kept watch throughout the night in prayer unto God.”
Lk 6,12 KNT
After that night of vigil in prayer, the next day the 12 apostles were chosen (Lk 6:13). Prayer was the preparation for this. It was a “waking up” in prayer to God. How this happened exactly is not reported, but it is this dialogue with God, a listening and giving space to God in it, so that also instructions for upcoming tasks were received.
When Peter was captured, it was said that the church “fervently” turned to God in prayer for him. Prayer for someone finds expression here, probably also in view of Peter’s ministry and the task he fulfilled in the church in Jerusalem.
“Therefore, in the meantime, Peter was kept in prison, while fervent prayers were made to God for him by the church that was called out.”
Acts 12:5 KNT
Paul writes to the Romans that they may also intercede for him in prayer, speaking of his ministry:
“But I promise you, my brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to wrestle with me to God in prayers for me, that I may be born before the gainsayers in Judea, and that my service to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and find rest with you.”
Rom 15:30-32 KNT
What is striking about this selection is the mention specifically for carrying out a ministry, in line with God’s work. However, it is not always so obvious, and sometimes we ourselves have very simple wishes that have nothing at all to do with outstanding tasks. Sometimes it is the thanksgiving of an overflowing heart, sometimes it is the amazement at God’s activity or the outcry from deep distress. All this belongs to us and finds an appropriate expression in prayer.
Verbiage and magical thinking
Now how do we pray? I have already had very different experiences in this regard. As different as these experiences were, so different was the understanding of God’s work behind them. Some are silent because in silence lies the encounter. Others talk because powerful prayer seems to do a lot. Often I heard a torrent of words, even with myself, until one day it seemed silly to me. Surely God knows what we need before we say it?
“And it shall come to pass: Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
Isa 65:24
“God your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Mt 6,8 KNT
So it is certainly not because of the flow of words whether God hears us or not. It is not the quantity of words, it is not the duration of prayer, it is not the uninterrupted supplication that “sets God in motion.” It is not the flow of words that determines whether God accepts us in our supplication. He is God and is far above such views.
God accepts us even before we pray. It is certainly not because of whether we pray “right” or “wrong,” do something or don’t do something. Those who think so are in a magical mindset, as if God’s arm can be moved if we press this or that “button.” Even those who refer to certain Bible verses with the best of intentions in order to “evoke” God’s activity are not in a relationship. Jesus never tried anything like that. He watched in prayer for instruction, to pour out His heart and anguish before Him in prayer (Matt. 26:36-46). Jesus primarily submitted to God’s will:
“And going a little ahead, He fell on His face and prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by Me! However, not as I will, but as You will!”.
Mt 26,39
That was a simple prayer. It was not a torrent of words, as I have heard over and over again in prayer meetings and many other places, nor was it an evocation of God’s intervention. Jesus entered into the relationship. He puts everything else back into the hands of His Father.
We do not know what to pray
When Paul mentions in Romans 8 that we do not know what to pray, this statement comes at the end of 8 chapters wherein the apostle explains the basics of the gospel. The ups and downs of human nature have already been covered, as have God’s righteousness, the atonement, the meaning of His grace, and the implications in our lives. At the conclusion of this chapter, the statement culminates in the following summary:
“Now what shall we bring up in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how can He not also with Him grant us all these things in grace? Who will accuse the elect of God? God, the Justifier? Who should condemn them? Christ Jesus, who died and was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us? What will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? Tribulation or pressure and persecution, hunger or nakedness, danger or sword? (…) For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor messengers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Rom 8:31-39
It is a tremendous outlook, a stunningly comprehensive confidence in God’s activity. This is the core of the Letter to the Romans, the summary of everything Paul wants to say to the Romans about the gospel. God is for us. Christ is the proof. Nothing will be able to separate us from God. His statement that we do not know what to pray is on the path that leads up to this statement.
One would actually have to read the Epistle to the Romans up to this point in order to discover the richness in it step by step. Unfortunately, there is not enough space for this in this short review. We can at least highlight some of the same chapter as a suggestion for our own consideration. Thus Paul writes:
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery, again to fear; but you received the spirit of sonship, in which we cry aloud. Abba, Father! – The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…”
Rom 8:15-16
God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. We recognize ourselves as part of the family of God. It comes to the encounter with the living God, to the realization of His grace in Christ Jesus. Immediately afterwards, however, the apostle describes our position in this world. Despite our high position in the state of sonship, we stand in a world full of suffering. We ourselves do not have a spirit of slavery, but the world is in a slavery of impermanence. While our spirit is allowed to be liberated, on the other hand, we stand just as firmly in and on this world. Both are true. In this Paul is very sober. The world groans and is in travail, as we ourselves are, to be set free from this slavery (Rom 8:21-22). Much has been divined, but liberation is not yet available. There is an expectation, but not yet a fulfillment.
Against this background now it is said:
“But in the same way the Spirit also helps up our weakness; for what we ought to pray for (in accordance with what must be) we do not know, but the Spirit Himself uses Himself for us with unspoken groans.”
Rom 8:26
We don’t know what to pray because we can’t really appreciate anything in the face of this world and the many sufferings in it. It is beyond our imagination. We can help other people, we can contribute positive things, but when it comes to what really happens next, what is needed, we don’t know. We have no idea. And this attitude suits us. We lack the overview. We do not know what must be in the great fabric of world history.
Putting everything in God’s hands
We stand as much smaller people in the here and now. Neither verbiage nor magical thinking will help. With this, you are only trying to control God. However, this does not work. We don’t know what will really be best tomorrow. We lack words for our own need and for the need of the world. But we have a comforter and a support from God Himself. For God’s Spirit uses Himself for us, it is said, “with unspoken groans”. There is something comforting in that. Because not everything can be said. Not even God’s Spirit can or will say everything. Even the Spirit itself pleads for us with unspoken groans.
At this moment we can learn to let go. When words fail, when the outlook seems grim, when hardship exceeds our strength, when our wisdom is insufficient for the challenges on our path, the Spirit uses Himself on our behalf. Now Paul has spoken these words, he begins the summary. He wants to make it clear that God is for us. There the sufferings of this world are safely lifted, for God is working toward a goal, namely “that the creation itself also may be set free from the slavery of corruption to the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21).
God is for us, never against us. God is for you and me, and He will affect everything according to His love in Christ Jesus.
