When We Do Not Know What to Pray

(Adapted from an ancient Rabbinic parable)

A man was preparing for a walk to town through the woods to conduct some transaction. As he pulled on his overcoat, he heard his daughter’s voice coming softly from her room. Knowing she was alone, he peeked in on her to see what childish imagination she was indulging in. There, he saw her kneeling by her bed as if in prayer, saying, “… e, f, g, h, i…”

Mikal Johnson

​Smiling, he asked, “Child, what are you doing?”

The girl looked up and replied, “I was worried about your journey, but don’t know any prayers, so I thought I’d pray the alphabet to God and let him assemble the prayer.”

With a soft chuckle the man kissed the girl’s forehead, said farewell, and set out.

Some time later he found himself in the forest and heard the sound of some large creature ahead. Not knowing if it be man or beast, he remembered some recent rumors of a bear roaming the timberlands. And so, hoping to avoid danger, he stepped off the path to walk around, certain he’d find his way with only a little delay.

As night fell, and he increasingly realized that he had become lost, his heart became fearful. For some time he had believed that the animal he’d heard earlier was stalking him.

It was dark and growing cold. He had not eaten for some time and he was thirsty. He had strayed from the only safe road through the woods. Again he imagined that he heard a rustle in the undergrowth.

He froze, fear gripping his heart.

Then he remembered his daughter that morning and the promise in the Scriptures that the Spirit makes intercession for us when we do not know what to pray.

The man dropped to his knees then and there and said, “Dear God, hear my prayer… A, B, C, D…”

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
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In His Name, Mikal