Have you ever sat down to pray and suddenly realized you have absolutely no idea what to say? Maybe you’ve had a crazy day, and your mind is completely overwhelmed. Maybe you’ve had an awful day, and you’re exhausted. Or maybe nothing particularly exciting happened at all, but when you finally lay down at night, your mind goes blank.
I’ve experienced this myself. Just recently, I lay down in bed at the end of the day and realized I didn’t really know what to say to God. It wasn’t even a particularly busy or difficult day. Honestly, it was pretty boring. But when I went to pray, my mind was just… blank.
And I actually told God that. I told Him I didn’t really know what to say that night.
Usually, when I don’t know what to pray, I just start by telling God about my day. That’s my baseline. I’ll start telling Him what I did that day, what happened, what I thought about, or just little things that happened throughout the day. And something interesting usually happens when I do that.
I start remembering things I actually wanted to talk to Him about. Maybe there’s something I wanted to thank Him for. Maybe there’s someone I wanted to pray for. Maybe something happened that bothered me. Maybe there’s something I don’t understand. Maybe there’s a sin I need to confess that I hadn’t even thought about yet.
And sometimes, I realize just how much I have to be thankful for. I might be sitting there talking to God about my day, and then suddenly I mention that I did laundry. I start thinking, Have I ever thanked God for having clothes to wash? Have I ever thanked Him for having a way to clean my clothes?
Something that seems completely ordinary can suddenly become something worth thanking God for. Even this morning, I found myself thanking God for coffee. It’s such a small, ordinary part of my morning, but it makes me happy, and I am incredibly thankful for it. Why wouldn’t I tell God about it?
We can become so focused on thinking we need something important to say that we forget that God cares about the ordinary parts of our lives, too.
Prayer Is More Than Asking God for Things
I used to think prayer was mostly something you did when you needed something. If something was going wrong, I prayed. If I needed help, I prayed. If I needed forgiveness, I prayed.
But prayer is so much more than that.
Prayer is communication with the Creator of the universe—the one true God. As Christians, we have a relationship with the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. We have the privilege of coming before Him in prayer.
Think about that for a moment. We have an open line of communication with God. The God who created the universe knows us, and we can come before Him and talk to Him.
That changes how I think about prayer.
When I remember who God is, what He has done for me, what He continues to do, His promises, His faithfulness, and His goodness, I don’t just want to ask Him for things. I want to praise Him. I want to thank Him. I want to confess my sins to Him. I want to tell Him about the good things happening in my life and the difficult things, too. I want to pour my heart out to Him.
And sometimes, I’ll be praying and suddenly have to stop because I’m reminded of who God is and what He has done. I just sit there quietly for a moment.
Prayer reminds me of who God is. But it also reminds me of who I am. I am a sinner who has been saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
That is something worth stopping and remembering.
PAUSE & REFLECT
When you think about your own prayer life, do you tend to come to God mostly when you need something, or do you regularly come to Him simply to talk, praise Him, thank Him, and spend time with Him?
You Don’t Have to Have the Perfect Words
I used to think my prayers weren’t good enough. When I first became a Christian, I would pray for 30–45 minutes at a time. Then, if I had an off day where I was exhausted or simply didn’t have much to say, I would feel guilty.
I’d think, “I couldn’t even pray for five minutes today. I’m a terrible Christian.”
But prayer isn’t a race. There isn’t a certain number of minutes you have to pray in order to be a good Christian. You don’t become more spiritually mature because you prayed longer than someone else. And you don’t become less of a Christian because you had a day where your prayer was short.
It’s so easy to turn prayer into something we measure. How long did I pray? Did I pray enough? Did I say the right things? Did I sound spiritual?
But who are we trying to impress? God already knows our hearts.
Jesus actually warned against praying for the purpose of being seen by others:
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray… that they may be seen by others.” — Matthew 6:5 ESV
Prayer isn’t about performing. It’s about God.
Matthew 6:7–8 also warns against empty repetition. The issue isn’t simply repeating words. Scripture itself contains repeated prayers. The issue is saying words without meaning—praying mechanically or vainly, as though simply saying more words will somehow make God listen.
Our heart posture matters. You don’t need to read God a script. You don’t need to find the perfect Christian vocabulary. Be genuine with Him.
He already knows what you’re thinking. He already knows what you’re feeling. And He knows what you’re trying to say even when you can’t quite get the words out.
What If You Really Don’t Know What to Say?
Then tell Him that.
Seriously.
You can start with:
“God, I don’t really know what to say tonight.”
That’s still prayer.
I actually experienced this just recently. I had opened my Kindle app on my phone because I thought I would read a few pages before praying. I usually fall asleep while reading anyway, so I thought I’d read first and pray afterward.
But I just stared at the page. I couldn’t start reading. I kept thinking, “I’ll read a few pages before I pray. I don’t really have anything to say to God right now.”
But it didn’t sit right with me.
So I closed the app and closed my eyes. I lay there in silence for a little while because I genuinely didn’t know what to say.
Eventually, I just started talking.
I told God that I didn’t really know what to say that night and that I hadn’t really wanted to pray because I felt like I had nothing to talk about. So I told Him I’d tell Him about my day.
And that simple starting point turned into a much longer prayer than I expected.
I found things to talk about. Things to thank Him for. Things to confess. Things I had forgotten about. Things I had learned during Bible study that morning. People I wanted to pray for. Things I wanted to give to Him.
And eventually, I found myself simply glorifying God for who He is and what He has done.
I started with, “I don’t know what to say.” And somehow, I ended up having plenty to say.
Sometimes you just need a place to start.
Start With Your Day
If you genuinely don’t know what to pray, try telling God about your day. Start with the simplest things.
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What did you do?
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What happened?
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How did you feel?
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Was there anything difficult?
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Was there anything that made you happy?
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Was there something you were worried about?
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Was there someone you thought about?
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What are you thankful for?
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What did you learn?
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Was there something you need to confess?
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Was there something you don’t understand?
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Was there something you need God’s help with?
You may be surprised at how quickly your prayer changes once you start talking.
And if you don’t know what to pray about, you can always start with thanksgiving. Thank God for the things you often overlook.
Thank Him for your food. Your home. Your clothes. Your coffee. The ability to work. The people in your life. A beautiful flower you saw that day. A quiet moment. The fact that you woke up this morning.
The more you begin looking for things to thank God for, the more you realize how much you’ve been given that you may have never stopped to acknowledge.
PAUSE & REFLECT
Think back over your day. What are three ordinary things you could thank God for that you might normally overlook?
Prayer Throughout Your Day
Prayer doesn’t have to happen only at one specific time or place.
I pray throughout my day. While I’m doing chores around the house. While I’m studying the Bible. While I’m sitting on the couch. While I’m lying in bed.
Sometimes it’s a long, intentional prayer. Other times it’s just a sentence.
“God, thank You for this.”
“Lord, please help me with this.”
“God, I don’t understand this.”
“Please help this person.”
These little moments matter, too.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says:
“Pray without ceasing.” — ESV
We aren’t meant to treat prayer as something we check off our list once a day and then forget about God for the remaining twenty-three hours. Prayer is an ongoing relationship with Him.
That said, I recently listened to a podcast from True Christian Ministry where they talked about intentionally setting aside time during the day to be alone with God and pray specifically on your knees. He challenged his viewers to do this for a week. I’ll leave the link here for you if you’d like to listen to it as well:
Specific Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOZvTqBoUiA&t=3735
If you have a chance, check out their other videos. Fantastic podcast!
I actually haven’t done this myself. Most of my prayers have happened while I’m lying in bed, sitting somewhere, doing chores, or simply going about my day.
But I do think there is something meaningful about intentionally setting aside time to get alone with God, kneel before Him, and physically humble yourself before Him.
We should always have reverence for God. Being comfortable coming to God does not mean treating Him casually or forgetting who He is.
We can come boldly before Him because of Christ, while still approaching Him with awe, reverence, and humility.
God Already Knows
One of the most comforting things about prayer is knowing that God already knows.
He knows what you’re thinking. He knows what you’re feeling. He knows what you need. He even knows what you’re trying to say when you can’t find the words.
Romans 8:26 says:
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 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.” — ESV.
There will be times when we are weak. There will be times when we don’t know what to ask for. There will be times when we know exactly what we’re feeling but can’t put it into words.
And God has not left us alone in those moments.
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
That is incredibly comforting.
You don’t have to come before God with a perfectly organized prayer. You don’t have to have everything figured out.
PAUSE & REFLECT
Is there something you have been struggling to put into words lately? Take a moment to remember that God already knows what you are trying to say.
Prayer Has Power
I don’t want this to give the impression that prayer is simply something we do because it makes us feel better.
Prayer has power.
That doesn’t mean everything we ask God for will happen exactly the way we want it to. Sometimes God’s answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is wait.
God answers according to His will and His timing—not ours.
But that doesn’t mean prayer is powerless. God hears every word.
So we remain steadfast in prayer.
There may be things you’ve prayed about over and over again. Maybe you’ve wondered if God even heard you.
Keep praying.
Have you ever prayed and prayed about something and eventually seen God answer?
I know I’ve prayed about things where the answer didn’t come when I wanted it to. But God’s timing is not my timing.
Prayer strengthens our faith. It helps us endure. It reminds us of who God is. It brings our burdens before Him.
And sometimes, while we’re praying about what we want God to change, God is changing something in us.
Prayer Isn’t a Performance
One of the easiest traps to fall into is turning prayer into a measurement. For example, “I only prayed for an hour today” or “She prays better than I do.”
Stop measuring it.
Prayer isn’t a competition. The goal isn’t to impress God with how many words you can say.
Jesus specifically warned about praying to be seen by others and about empty repetition.
God cares about our hearts.
If your prayer is five minutes long and genuine, that isn’t somehow worth less than a forty-five-minute prayer. And if you have a day where you pray for forty-five minutes, that’s okay too.
You don’t need to feel guilty because one day your prayer was longer than another.
There will be days when you have so much to say that you don’t want to stop. There will be days when you’re exhausted and can barely get the words out. There will be days when you don’t know what to say at all.
Pray anyway.
So, What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Pray?
Start somewhere.
Tell God about your day.
Thank Him for something.
Confess something.
Ask Him for help.
Pray for someone else.
Tell Him what is bothering you.
Tell Him what you don’t understand.
Praise Him for who He is.
Sit quietly before Him.
And if all you can say is, “God, I don’t know what to say,” then start there.
Don’t let the feeling that you don’t have enough to say keep you from talking to God.
Sometimes, we make prayer more complicated than it needs to be. We tend to think we need the perfect words, the perfect environment, the perfect amount of time, or the perfect prayer.
We don’t.
Come to God. Be honest with Him. Be intentional. Have reverence for Him. And remember who you’re talking to.
You are talking to the Creator of the universe. The one true God. The God who knows you completely. The God who saved you through Jesus Christ. The God who hears you even when you don’t know what to say.
So if you’re lying in bed tonight and you find yourself thinking, “I don’t know what to pray,” don’t just roll over and go to sleep.
Start talking.
Tell Him about your day.
You might be surprised by how much you actually have to say.