Fresh Start Devotionals

When You Can’t Pray We know that God will answers our prayers when we pray, but what about the times in our life when we are to numb to pray? Does God’s grace penetrate our darkness to answer prayers that would pray if we could? Have you ever hurt so much you couldn’t pray? In his book, When God Interrupts, M. Craig Barnes writes about a time his pain paralyzed his prayer life. After thirty-six hours of hard labor, his wife started hemorrhaging and the fetal monitor alarm went off. Doctors and nurses swarmed into the room and Craig was asked to leave. He resisted, but ultimately, he placed his family in the hands of medical professionals and he walked into a cold, lonely waiting room. Time stood still, and Craig knew he should pray, but he couldn’t. His fear was overwhelming it looked like he was about to lose his wife and his child. But even when he couldn’t pray, his fear turned to calm. Eventually the nurse walked in the room to tell him all was well. In the book, Barnes wrote, My fear of losing family had become gratitude for receiving it back. When I held my daughter for the first time, that gratitude turned into an overwhelming love. I’ll never forget that moment when I met her and fell in love with her at the same time. (p. 36–37) Romans 8:26 KJV Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).