Q:  I understand that when times are difficult, we need to pray and praise God more than ever, but sometimes it’s not easy. When I try to pray during my struggles, I start shaking, and I can’t say a word. How can I overcome this barrier and find the words to pray when I need them most?

A.  The first thing I want to encourage you with is that you have more power inside of you than you think.

If you’re born again, the third person of the Godhead lives on the inside of you, and He comes with so much power and wisdom that He will give to you in those difficult moments if you will just ask Him.  That knowledge is an important foundation for our prayers when we are struggling. 

The other thing I want to show you is an example from the Old Testament that I think will really instruct you. This is a story about David, before he was a king, and I really believe that this situation was the hardest thing that he faced.

While he and his men were on the run from King Saul, they made a home in this city called Ziklag, and that is where their families stayed when they were traveling. Well one day, the men came home to discover that the city had been burned down, and everything and everyone was gone!

Can you even imagine just losing everything like that — your children, your spouse, your home, and all your belongings just gone? Those men were just devastated. The Bible says they cried so much that they couldn’t cry anymore (1 Samuel 30:4).

What was even worse for David was that after losing everything, his men were starting to turn against him. It says in 1 Samuel 30:6, “Now, David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of the people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters….” David had lost his children and wives and home, and now these men who he had given his life to for six or seven years were so grieved that they wanted to stone him!

Friend, the Bible tells us right there that David was greatly distressed about all these things. He really was, but look at how he responded in that distress: “…But David, strengthened himself in the Lord” (1 Samuel 30:6).

Before he ever attempted to pray, he first strengthened himself in the Lord. We aren’t told exactly what that means, but it makes me think of remembering. When we are in a difficult situation, remembering is so powerful, and it can absolutely strengthen us in the Lord. Maybe David was remembering when Goliath fell to the ground and David cut off his head. Maybe he was remembering being anointed by Samuel and the promise that came with that, so he could tell himself, “I’m not going to die an early death by stoning. I’m going to be a king!”

When you are struggling, you’ve got to remember what God has done. Before you ever even pray, just strengthen yourself in the memories of God’s promises, of His faithfulness and power in the past. Just stop and think, on purpose, about how good and faithful He’s been in all the times before. It says in Hebrews that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). If He helped you before, then He hasn’t changed — He’s going to help you now.

Don’t forget, the Lord always meets us where we are. When you were still living in sin, He didn’t say, “Go clean yourself up and then you can get saved.” Instead He said, “Come as you are.” If you’re shaking and you can’t get any words out, come to Him anyway — He can handle your weakness. The next time you’re struggling, just ask him, “Jesus, help me. Help me.” When you say that, you open the door for His help. It all just starts with coming to Him and letting Him be our strength.