So the passage Romans 8:26-27 has been at the tip of my brain a lot lately. It reads:

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. (NLT)

At new staff training in September, I committed to and prayed that I would be available to God moving in me, developing me, and helping me be open to new experiences as part of his body. One of the areas I feel God has really challenged me and developed me is in the area of prayer. Some of you know my struggles with prayer and God has brought me so far on this journey since this time last year.

One book in particular that really helped me on my journey was "Prayer" by Richard Foster. As follows are some thoughts and prayers that I have been pondering and thinking on over the past two days or so:

To be effective pray-ers, we need to be effective lovers. Richard J. Foster "Prayer" 3

God creates everything out of nothing - and everything which God is to use he first reduces to nothing. Soren Kierkegaard via Richard J. Foster "Prayer" p 54

Dear Lord Jesus, in my better moments I want nothing more than to be like you. But there are other moments . . .  . Help me to see how good conformity to your way really is. In my seeking for you may I be found by you. I love you, Lord. Amen. Richard J. Foster "Prayer" p 66

. . . we must learn holy listening. We are listening, always listening, for the Divine Whisper amid the human clatter, . . . Richard J. Foster "Prayer" p 116

We have become like old shoes - all worn out except for the tongue. Father Clement of Alexandria via Richard J. Foster "Prayer" p 155

Love loves to be told what it knows already . . . . It wants to be asked for what it longs to give. P.T. Forsyth via Richard J. Foster "Prayer" p 180

God gives where he finds empty hands. St. Augustine via Richard J. Foster "Prayer" p 187

My good friends Don and Heather have taught me so much about prayer over the past two months or so. They have challenged me, prayed with me, prayed for me, modeled prayer for me, prayed truth into me, prayed lies out of me, and prayed that I would grow and be empowered as a man of prayer. I thank God every day for them and the valuable roles they play in my life.

So how does all this tie into the opening verses? Let me just restate the passage again:

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. Romans 8:26-27 (NLT).

I have found myself in recent days frustrated, not knowing what I should pray for and how I should pray. I desire to go deeper in my prayer life and have really tried to explore and figure out what it means that the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed with words. So while I am still clueless, what I've again done is made myself available to God and asked that I would be in harmony with his will.

So really, all of this is just to say that my prayer life is a work in progress and this is the current status. I'm excited for the journey I am on, thankful for the friends I am on this journey with, and I look forward to updating you on how God moves in me through my prayer life in upcoming days.

I begin each day with this simple prayer and invite you make it your own:

God, please take my heart, mind, and will and tune them with yours. Please take my lips, hands, and feet and use them for your service, honour, and glory. Amen.

Chad