When You Can't Pray

This article is not for the spiritually elite, meaning the super-saint. That is, the saint who would rather die than be seen by their peers as having a chink in their armour. That would be too humiliating; for others to see they too are altogether human. That they are as vulnerable as the common Christian would be too painful.

But, my beloved, be assured of this, there will be times in a child of God’s life when he or she cannot pray. I did not say, will not, but cannot. Times when both the mouth and heart go mute. At such times, things seem so dark around us, so hopeless, there is not an ounce of ask left in us, leaving us in the silent valley of  despair.     

What is one to do when the “ask” has left us? It is then we are to “adore.” In other words, WHEN YOU CAN’T PRAY, YOU PRAISE! When the only light you have is that from the unbearable flames of your fiery trial, Praise Him! “Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires.” And darling David tells us, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.”

Without question, at such times, praise would be considered a great sacrifice. This is what the writer of Hebrews speaks of, I believe. “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name...for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. O my beloved, no matter your condition, “PRAISE GOD ANYHOW.”

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”