Unconscious Prayer

November 8, 2012

“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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in according with God’s will.”

Romans 8: 26-27

“Have we recognized that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, though it is only a tiny bit of our personality, is to be regarded by us as a shrine of the Holy Ghost. He will look after the unconscious part that we know nothing of; but we must see that we guard the conscious part for which we are responsible. “

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

When I read the verse the first time, I kind of felt relieved, as though I was not really responsible for my prayers or the discipline of my prayer life. I felt as though I was somehow absolved of accountability to follow the directions of Jesus in my prayer life, to pray as He had taught us and, as Paul adds on later, to pray without ceasing – to make my entire life worship and prayer.

At first I felt like its okay that I don’t pray as much as I should, or for the people and circumstances that I should, because whatever I “forget” to pray for, the Holy Spirit takes care of! It made me feel like my own selfish prayers would be ramped up, through the Spirit, to be inclusive of every little thing in my heart that I am unaware of, or choose to forget to pray for.

But Chambers struck a note with me when he spoke of the discipline of my mind and body, the conscious life, over which I have absolute control.

The more I am coming to know about God and His love for me, the less I understand. And this is exactly where I want to be. I don’t know the desires of my heart, or the things my Spirit cries out for. But God does and, through the Holy Spirit, appeals are made to God on my behalf. In this way, while I am struggling to make ends meet – emotionally, physically, and spiritually – there is an undercurrent in my life that is working to transform me at my core.

That is comforting…

I would like to think that I knew what to pray for, and not with flowery words or rhyme or reason. One of my favorite prayer partners always prays so honestly it is as though she is having a conversation with “God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit,” as she begins her prayers, and our prayers together always begin with a smile for me. And I love her prayers, for the simplicity and honesty with which she talks to God. And I imagine God loves them too, and smiles with us.

And oh what an undercurrent beneath her words is moving as we pray! What an encouraging thought to think that, as long as we are honest and humble and do our best to pray as best we know how, the Holy Spirit is moving within and around on our behalf, filling in the holes we didn’t even know existed.

So today as I pray, as continuously as I can, in as much as I want to condemn myself for not praying for everything that I think I should, instead I am going to add prayers of gratitude for a God who is moving in and through me through prayers too intimate for words to express. This is the God I love. The God who not only chooses to love me unconditionally, but also is constantly at work in my life when I am not conscious myself of the things that I should be.