“Father, meet me here. Carry me through.”

7 words that have been repeatedly whispered into the dark, stillness of night. When I’m awakened again by the unrest in my soul and physical pain, these words are all I can muster. I have prayed this for 3 weeks and it’s easy to feel like God isn’t listening after so long…

And yet, God has remained faithful in leaning low and pulling me close. Every single night.

Prayer doesn’t have to consist of holy words and theological truths. It doesn’t have to be a certain length to be considered worthy of God’s attention.

Sometimes we may not have the words to express the grief we feel, the hard feelings and thoughts troubling our heart and mind. And that is ok. In Romans 8:26, we are told that the Holy Spirit prays on our behalf. Even if we don’t know what to pray, God knows what we need.

God always hears us.

In the wordless groans. In the darkness of night. In the whispered pleas. In our frustrated silence.

He hears you.

God is always listening. But he doesn’t always answer the way we hope, in the time frame we ask for or the way we think we need to hear him. That’s hard to understand and it feels unkind. I promise, I get it. But our feelings do not define the kindness, faithfulness and steadfastness of God.

I’m in the struggle with you and it’s because of that I can confidently encourage you to keep praying, keep whispering, keep trusting in Him.

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“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:26-28 MSG