Sept 14 | When You Can't Pray: Using Borrowed Prayers to Find Your Voice Again
When You Can't Pray: The Surprising Power of Using Other People's Words
Have you ever sat down to pray and found yourself completely speechless? You're not alone - and there's a biblical solution that might surprise you.
The Day Prayer Died
"I couldn't pray for three months."
These words might shock you coming from someone who teaches the Bible, but they're true. After my father passed away, I would sit with my Bible open, hands folded, and... nothing. The words that had flowed so naturally for decades suddenly vanished like morning mist.
Maybe you know this feeling intimately. Perhaps grief has stolen your voice. Maybe anger has locked your jaw shut. Or exhaustion has simply drained every ounce of spiritual energy from your bones.
Here's what changed everything for me: discovering that Jesus Himself used borrowed prayers in His darkest hour. And if the Son of God could pray someone else's words, maybe - just maybe - we're allowed to do that too.
The Myth of Spontaneous Prayer
Why We Think "Real" Prayer Must Be Original
Somewhere along the way, modern Christianity developed this idea that authentic prayer must be spontaneous, original, and completely from the heart. We've been taught that reading prayers is somehow less spiritual, that using someone else's words is cheating, that God only wants to hear our unique voice.
But this wasn't always the case. In fact, this idea would have seemed bizarre to first-century believers.
Jesus' Shocking Prayer Choice
When Jesus hung dying on the cross - in the most agonizing moment any human has ever experienced - He didn't compose an original prayer. Instead, He cried out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
These weren't Jesus' words. They were David's, written a thousand years earlier in Psalm 22.
Think about the implications here. The Word made flesh, the One through whom all things were created, borrowed ancient words in His moment of greatest need. If spontaneous prayer was the only "real" prayer, Jesus failed the test.
But He didn't fail. He was showing us something profound.
The Ancient Practice of Borrowed Prayers
The Psalms: Humanity's First Prayer Book
The Book of Psalms served as the prayer book for God's people for over three millennia. These 150 chapters weren't just songs - they were the prayers that shaped Jewish spirituality and early Christian worship.
When Paul instructed the Ephesians to "sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs," that Greek word "psalmos" referred specifically to these ancient prayers. The first Christians didn't have contemporary worship music or spontaneous prayer meetings as we know them. They had a hymnal that was already centuries old, and they used it constantly.
A Prayer for Every Human Emotion
What makes the Psalms revolutionary is their emotional range. Unlike our sanitized modern prayers, the psalms are raw, honest, and sometimes uncomfortable:
Psalm 88 - A prayer of such deep depression that it literally ends with "darkness is my only friend"
Psalm 137 - Contains violent imagery about revenge that makes us squirm
Psalm 13 - Opens with "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?"
Psalm 30 - Celebrates healing and restoration with unrestrained joy
Psalm 51 - The ultimate prayer of repentance and brokenness
David and the other psalmists didn't hold back. They screamed at God, questioned God, celebrated God, and wrestled with God. They've already said what you can't say. They've already screamed what you need to scream.
The Hidden Genius of Liturgical Prayer
Why Formal Prayers Exist
Liturgy often gets a bad reputation in contemporary Christianity. We associate it with dead religion, empty ritual, and meaningless repetition. But liturgy exists for a profound reason: sometimes you need training wheels for your soul.
When depression fogs your mind, when grief steals your words, when anxiety scrambles your thoughts - that's when the ancient prayers become a lifeline. They're not crutches; they're bridges that carry us across spiritual canyons we can't traverse alone.
The Lord's Prayer: The Ultimate Borrowed Prayer
Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer not because God needs formal language, but because we need structure when our hearts are falling apart. This prayer has carried millions of believers through their darkest nights for two thousand years.
Consider how comprehensive it is:
Acknowledges God's holiness
Surrenders to God's will
Asks for daily provision
Seeks forgiveness and helps us forgive
Requests protection from evil
In less than thirty seconds, you've covered every major aspect of prayer. When you can't think of what to pray, Jesus has already given you the words.
Historical Examples of Borrowed Prayers in Crisis
Horatio Spafford's Immortal Hymn
In 1873, Horatio Spafford wrote "It Is Well With My Soul" after his four daughters drowned in a shipwreck. The hymn begins: "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll..."
For 150 years, countless grieving parents have borrowed Spafford's words when their own words failed. They've sung his faith when they couldn't find their own. They've leaned on his hope when theirs had disappeared.
The Tax Collector's One-Line Prayer
In one of Jesus' most famous parables, a tax collector stands in the temple and prays just one borrowed line from Psalm 51: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Jesus says this man - not the Pharisee with his elaborate original prayer - went home justified before God. The borrowed prayer carried more power than all the spontaneous words the Pharisee could muster.
Practical Guide to Using Borrowed Prayers
Where to Start When Words Won't Come
If you're struggling to pray right now, here's a practical roadmap:
For Comfort: Start with Psalm 23. Read it slowly, emphasizing different words each time. "The LORD is MY shepherd" becomes personal. "HE makes me lie down" acknowledges God's gentle force.
For Confession: Turn to Psalm 51. David's prayer after his affair with Bathsheba has guided countless believers through repentance. Make it yours: "Create in me a clean heart, O God."
For Praise When You Don't Feel It: Psalm 150 commands everything that breathes to praise God. Sometimes we need to be commanded to worship. Let these words pull praise from your reluctant heart.
For Anger at God: Psalm 88 or Psalm 13 give you permission to be honest about feeling abandoned. God can handle your anger - He's already heard it all in these psalms.
Making Ancient Prayers Personal
Don't just read these prayers - pray them actively:
Change pronouns to make them personal
Insert your specific situation into the prayer
Read them out loud - there's power in hearing your own voice
Write them in your own handwriting
Memorize short sections for emergency use
The Theological Beauty of Borrowed Prayers
Joining the Eternal Conversation
When you pray the psalms, you're joining a conversation that predates you by millennia and will continue long after you're gone. You're adding your voice to a chorus that includes:
David fleeing from Saul in caves
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Paul and Silas in prison
Augustine in his study
Luther in his tower
Your grandparents in their struggles
This is the communion of saints in action - not just fellowship with current believers, but spiritual solidarity across all time.
The Corporate Nature of Faith
Modern Western Christianity often emphasizes individual relationship with God, but biblical faith was always communal. Using borrowed prayers reminds us that:
We're not alone in our struggles
Others have walked this path before
Our faith is bigger than our individual experience
God's people support each other across time and space
Permission to Borrow
If you've been struggling to pray, I want to give you permission - no, encouragement - to borrow someone else's words. This isn't spiritual failure; it's spiritual wisdom.
Sometimes the most authentic prayer you can offer is admitting you don't have the words. That's exactly when you need to lean on the faith of others who do.
Your homework this week is simple: Find one psalm that speaks to your current situation. Read it every morning. Let those ancient words become your words. Watch how borrowed prayers can reignite your conversation with God.
Because here's the truth: God doesn't need your original words. He wants your honest heart. And sometimes the most honest thing you can say is, "God, I'm borrowing David's words today because I've got nothing."
That's not just okay - it's beautiful.
An Invitation to go Deeper….
If today’s message spoke to you, join the FaithLabz 30-Day Prayer Challenge and strengthen your connection with God’s unshakable love. You are never alone—let’s grow together!
