Sometimes your moods are confusing. You know what it’s like when you feel blah or sad or mad, but you can’t figure out why. When your mom asks what’s going on, you start to ramble because it doesn’t make sense in your head. Finding the words to explain it to her makes it sound even worse.
It helps, then, when your mom reads your mind and knows what you need, even when you don’t. She knows your stomach hurts because you are nervous about the band concert. She knows you yelled at her because you miss your friends. She knows when you are tired from too much activity and you need time alone.
The Holy Spirit knows you even better than your mom does. He reads your mind and knows what you need, even when you don’t. “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” (Romans 8:26 NIV).
When you can’t figure out what words to pray, the Holy Spirit talks to the Father for you. When you say, “Dear God, I don’t know what’s wrong,” the Holy Spirit says, “Dear Father, he is really missing the friend that moved away. He’d really like you to send him someone to hang out with.”
When you say, “Dear God, my stomach hurts,” the Holy Spirit says, “Dear Father, she is scared because her parents are fighting and she’d like you to remind her that you always see her and love her.”
When you don’t have the words, the Holy Spirit does.
Dear Holy Spirit, thank you for praying for me, even when I don’t know what to say. Thank you for knowing me better than I even know myself and for asking the Father to protect me, to watch over me, and to work in my life. Amen.
