“Prayer is the gift of the Spirit. Often we wonder how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray. We can become very concerned about methods and techniques of prayer. But finally it is not we who pray but the Spirit who prays in us. Paul says: “The Spirit … comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God’s holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God” (Romans 8:26-27). These words explain why the Spirit is called “the Consoler.”
Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (New York: HarperCollins, 1997) daily reading for 9 June.
Numerous times through Jenni’s cancer journey, my PhD experience, or the showing and sale of our house (this is moving week for us), we have found ourselves helpless and at a loss for words regarding how to pray. It is times like these we realize the gift that “the Consoler” is to us.
We also experience this on ordinary days. When we are preparing for teaching a lesson or just personally studying the Scriptures, we ask for and receive help. Often quietly and sweetly, the Spirit guides and instructs us. Join me today in thanking God for prayer as a gift of the Spirit.