Daily Devotions
Sunday, October 19, 2025
“Eternal Spirit of the living Christ, I know not how to ask or what to say; I only know my need, as deep as life, And only You can teach me how to pray.
“Come, pray in me the prayer I need this day; Help me to see Your purpose and Your will—Where I have failed, what I have done amiss; Held in forgiving love, let me be still.”
In Eden, Adam and Eve talked with God, but after they disobeyed Him, they tried to hide from their Creator’s presence. God confronted them with their sin and, at the same time, gave them hope in the promise of the Savior to come. God still loved the people He created and He did not want the conversations to end. People called on Him in prayer and He continued to speak. The Lord spoke with Abraham as with a friend. God talked to Moses face to face. Although “the word of the LORD was rare” at the time, God spoke to the young prophet Samuel (see 1 Samuel 3:1-4).
Then God’s voice was heard again: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). God spoke to us in Jesus, the Word made flesh. His steadfast love for the world was revealed in the death and resurrection of His Son. Now the conversations continue. God speaks to us through His Word, and He wants to hear from us. He invites us to pray. He has even given us a book of prayers in the inspired psalms and, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gives us His own words to use in prayer.
Yet even with God’s insistent invitation to come to Him, we still stumble in our prayers. We may be afraid and worried about our sin. Sometimes in our grief we can barely put our needs into words. When we do not know what to say, we ask for God’s help, pleading in the words of our hymn, “Only You can teach me how to pray.” The Holy Spirit provides the help we need, with prayers beyond words: “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” (Romans 8:26). When we are weak and troubled and cannot form the words for ourselves, the Spirit translates and shapes our needs into prayer, interceding for us according to the will of God. We hear God speak in His Word and we want to talk to Him. Our hymn is a prayer for the Spirit’s help: “Come, pray in me the prayer I need this day. Help me to see Your purpose and Your will.”
WE PRAY: Spirit of God, help me when I do not know how to pray as I should. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “Eternal Spirit of the Living Christ,” which is number 769 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
- How does the Holy Spirit help us pray when we have a hard time finding the right words?
- Do you have any favorite instances of God talking to individuals in the Bible? What are they?
- What has God said (about life, about death, about sin, about forgiveness) to the world through His Son Jesus?
Today's Readings:
Jeremiah 3-5Acts 27:1-26