Daily Devotionals
September 22, 2020
The Deepest Prayer
September 22, 2020
DAILY READING
FIELD NOTES
Often, in our prayer lives, we seek to fill space. We add flourishes or big 10-cent theological words we heard in a sermon once. We’re pretty sure God likes big words.
Or, we think our own words are lacking and so we avoid prayer because we think we will not measure up. When we find ourselves in a group of Christians and the call goes out: “Who would like to close us in prayer?” we never speak up. Why? Embarrassment. Feelings of inadequacy. The simple, overwhelming feeling of the idea that the God of all creation and the universe might be in the room, listening to us!
But our best and deepest prayers often come with no words at all. The most meaningful prayers ever prayed probably had no syntax; no grammar; no verbiage at all. They were prayers prayed at the end of an exhausting day. They were prayers prayed by people that had come to the end of their ropes. They were the prayers of the overwhelmed, overworked, incompetent, uneducated, uninformed, and unprepared. So, basically, people just like all of us.
It’s in those moments, where no words will come, that the Spirit intercedes with “signs too deep for words.” It’s in those moments that we know God is there. And we know God is listening even to our silence.
QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD
- How is your prayer life? When is the last time you simply sat in silence with God and let the Holy Spirit speak for you?
FAMILY FIELD TALK
- As a family, discuss what prayer means to you.
- When is a time you heard God speaking to you?
PRAYER GUIDE
Take a few minutes and sit in the silence, letting the Spirit intercede.