When your Mind Speaks Louder…
Ever experienced that feeling of having so much to say but not knowing how to say it? When your mind is active but you don’t know how to communicate what you are thinking. How to pray when you don’t know what to pray about?
This month’s quote is ‘Pray without ceasing’, and that’s why today’s post is about prayer.
I believe in God and my relationship with Him is important. Without His intervention in my life, I don’t think I’ll be where I am today. We go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back and He has, and continues to help me navigate my life’s experiences. As a result, we communicate regularly. I talk to him while driving, when working, in the shower, in the grocery store, while watching TV, when washing the dishes, I bet I even talk to Him in my sleep (lol). I talk to Him about everything- my fears, aspirations, needs, wants, desires, my family, my struggles & frustrations, my expectations. Name it, I’ll talk to God about it. It’s like a friendship- there will be no understanding between 2 friends if they don’t communicate isn’t it?
But to be honest, there are times where I don’t know how to say what I need to say to Him, where I lose my tongue, so to speak. Where even though my mind is so busy I still don’t know how to tell Him what is going on. You may be thinking, ‘but God knows what is in your heart so you don’t have to say anything’. I know, but what I’m describing is that feeling of wanting to let things out because you have something to say, where even though your mind is laid bare before Him, you are itching to express yourself verbally. If you know what I mean and can relate, here are:
6 ways to pray when you don’t know how to express yourself/what to pray about
- Pray for others. Praying for others has a strange way of providing illumination on issues in your mind that you want to talk to God about. And an addition is- one of the main ways of showing that you care about someone is by praying for them (at least in my world). Even if there aren’t any people around you that need prayers (which is highly unlikely), you know other people who have issues/challenges/problems that they need sorted out in their lives. Why not use that opportunity to pray for them?
- Read the Psalms. Honestly, David deserves an award for his rare ability to pen words that are relatable. The man had an active mind and he knew how to express himself. He makes not reinventing the prayer wheel a reality because some of the psalms convey a wide range of emotions. Is it anger, disgust, praise, disappointment, joy, rejection, showing gratitude, unhappiness, being afraid or insecure, fidgety, impatient etc.? Are you a melancholy, sanguine, choleric or phlegmatic, single or married, rich or poor, male or female, short or tall? Whatever the emotion and whoever you are, you will always find your medium of expression in the Book of Psalms.
- Read a devotional. I love the YouVersion app. It is a Bible app that you can easily download on your phone and it has great study devotionals on a wide array of topics available to you for free. Personally, reading devotionals provides me insight, insights which help me verbalise the way I feel.
- Go onto Pinterest’s prayer boards. Thank God for Pinterest! If you click here, you will find a lot of prayers that I have curated on my ‘Conversations with God’ board. These are prayers that I have been pinning since I knew about Pinterest, and what makes these so special is that these prayers are succinct, can capture all the turmoil in your heart in 3 sentences, making you feel like you have albeit a short, but quality conversation with God. I have come across certain prayers on Pinterest and it felt as though the author knew what was on my mind and wrote it out. Love it!
- Play your favourite ‘God music’. I have a well-curated gospel music playlist on my phone and I have some favourites that always help me to express myself through the lyrics. And the good thing about music is that you can listen to it anywhere.
- Say Thank You and express your gratitude to God, thanking Him for what He has done. I think this is pretty much self-explanatory. You only need to look around you to know that you have a lot to thank Him for. Things could be worse but you’re alive and hopefully, hopeful. If you still don’t know what to say, just say thank you to Him that you’re alive.
Do you sometimes struggle with expressing yourself when it comes to prayer, how do you handle it?
Thanks so much for stopping by today. Till we chat again, keep praying, share the blog with your awesome tribe and take care of yourself XOXOXO
Image: Pixabay