The Prayer of Rest

26In 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. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. Rom 8:26-27


There are times in our lives when even the most simple of prayers seems to be beyond us. We are confused or distressed. We are ashamed or guilty. We are angry with God. Life is too full of other priorities. We are just too exhausted to be able to face God or even go through the effort. These may be the times when God is most able to bless us with His presence. It is in the eye of the storm that the silence and calm can be most appreciated and nourishing. This is the time for the prayer of rest. There is perhaps no more appealing invitation in the Bible than Jesus’ gracious words, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Richard Foster explains this time, “While we are full participants in the grace-filled work of prayer, the work of prayer does not depend upon us. We often pray in struggling, halting ways. Many times we have only fragmentary glimpses of the heavenly glory. We do not know what to pray. We do not know how to pray. Often our best prayers feel like inarticulate groans. The point is that we do not have to have everything perfect when we pray. The Spirit reshapes, refines and reinterprets our feeble ego-driven prayers. We can rest in this work of the Spirit on our behalf.”

Allowing God to minister to us in the imperfection of our everyday lives is an important part of our time with Him. Our prayer lives are not like exams in school or important presentations at work where we need to have it all together before we are able to perform. Our prayer time can be the time we rest with God: our “hanging out” time. It can also be our broken time when we go to him wounded and battered. These are the times, as well as the joyous ones, in which God can just hold us and let us know how much He loves us; how acceptable we are to Him anyway. This is the communication of the soul more than the mind. This is the good “Daddy” time.

Jean Vanier, the leader of the L’Arche community for handicapped people which started in France describes this process in this way: he will cup his hands lightly before him and say, “Suppose I have a wounded bird in my hands. What would happen if I closed my hands completely?” The response is immediate, “Why the bird would be crushed and die.” “Well then, what would happen if I opened my hands completely?” “Oh, no, then the bird would try to fly away and it will fall and die.” Vanier goes on to say, “The right place is like my cupped hand, neither totally open nor totally closed. It is the space where growth can take place.”

If this is a time of distress, pain or indecision for you, a time where you are not sure where to turn and what is right or wrong, perhaps even a time where the temptation may be to turn away from church or God – this must be a good time to just rest with Him. Let Him be with you and minister to you and eventually carry you in His perfect direction.

Mike Clarkson