Lynne Baab

Draw near: Praying without words

Lynne Baab • Tuesday December 20 2022

Sometimes when we want to pray, the words just won’t come. Wordless prayer can feel inadequate and awkward. Sometimes being with Jesus, without using words, is exactly the right thing to do. Maybe we want to sit quietly with Jesus, or perhaps walk with him, holding his hand, enjoying his nearness. Perhaps we want to listen to God.

I started this blog series called “Draw Near” exactly six months ago. My favorite way to describe prayer is drawing near to God. Or to Jesus. Or to the Holy Spirit. The idea of drawing near comes from Hebrews 4:15-16:

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore, let us draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

In this key verse about prayer, “draw near” is also translated “approach,” “come,” and “walk right up to him.” In real life, we draw near to people in many ways that do not involve words. As the pandemic was loosening its hold, I gave old friends and family members really long hugs without saying a word. I was so glad to be in their physical presence. When my granddaughter was three and four, I would hold her hand when we walked, sometimes without talking, but always relishing the feel of her precious hand in mine. I wonder what is the prayer equivalent of a long hug or walking while holding hands and not talking.

I want to sketch out some scenarios involving wordless prayer.

1. In nature. I was fascinated when I did the interviews for my book Sabbath Keeping at how many people who observe a Sabbath enjoy spending time in nature as a Sabbath practice. So often in nature we can relish God’s presence in the beauty of what God made, without needing to say anything. Sure, sometimes we say “wow” or “thanks” to God when we see a dramatic sunset or crystal clear water or stunning mountains. But sometimes we just enjoy the sense of wonder and peace that comes to us through God’s beautifully created world. When we seek God’s presence in nature, we “draw near to the throne of grace.”

2. When we want guidance. Listening to God is often challenging. We might force ourselves to try to listen when we have a big decision at hand or a big challenge. When I want to hear the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and direction, I often try to intersperse some times of wordlessness in prayer in the midst of all the words.

3. When we want the peace of Jesus’ companionship. I have written about the way I use my imagination in prayer. I have pictured Jesus near me in a boat, and I hand him my struggles for him to dump in the lake. I imagine sitting beside Jesus in Adirondack chairs. I reach out my hand and he holds it. Sometimes I talk to him as we sit in those chairs and sometimes I just try to soak up the joy of his presence. We can rest in God’s presence in a variety of ways that do not involve using our imagination, such as by breathing deeply or pausing in the midst of tasks to draw near to God wordlessly.

I was in my late 30s before I realized prayer didn’t need to involve words. I was raised in Anglican and Episcopal churches, and the beauty of the Book of Common Prayer is one of the gifts of my childhood that keeps on giving. Its words are eloquent and powerful (and numerous). In my early years as a Christian, in college and young adulthood, my fledgling faith was nurtured by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. There was a lot of talk about ACTS prayer. We learned a truly wonderful pattern of studying the Bible and then praying in a group or alone about how God was speaking to us through the passage we had just studied. Beginning in those years, and lasting until today, I have experienced beautiful prayer times in groups where we share prayer requests and pray for each other’s needs and concerns. All of these prayer patterns involving words are good, rich, and wonderful, but the danger of valuing them so highly is that we ignore wordless forms of prayer

Christians throughout history have valued prayer with and without words, and in fact back in my late 30s, when I first started learning about contemplative prayer, I learned ancient words related to these two forms of prayer: kataphatic and apophatic. The Ignatian Spirituality website describes them this way: “‘Kataphatic’ prayer has content; it uses words, images, symbols, ideas. ‘Apophatic’ prayer has no content. It means emptying the mind of words and ideas and simply resting in the presence of God.”  The Ignatian Spiritual website recommends a detailed article explaining these words.

I’m defining wordless prayer a bit differently than these ancient words because I include in the category of wordless prayer things like imagining walking beside Jesus or holding his hand or experiencing God’s presence in nature. Still, the ancient apophatic tradition emphasizes the benefits of simply being with God, without needing to understand everything or express all that’s on our minds. Our invitation to be with God that way is a big gift.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
   O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
   for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
   to the living God (Psalm 84:1, 2).

(Next week: looking back at 2022, looking forward to 2023, in prayer. Illustration: Corner Peak, Lake Hawea, New Zealand by Dave Baab. If you'd like to receive updates when I post on this blog, sign up under "subscribe" below.)

Related posts:

• Creative prayer using the imagination
• Creative prayer with colors
• Some helpful quotations on listening to God in prayer (the last post in a series on listening to God, with the previous posts in the series listed at the end of this post)

Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is a teacher and writer. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »

Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her book on grief and gratitude, designed to help people grieving from anything, including the pandemic, while also desiring to notice God's good gifts. Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life is available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her best-selling book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.

Lynne recently spoke about empathy and also about bringing spiritual practices to life.

Lynne was interviewed recently for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills. 

Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.

"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader

"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping