Especially in times of illness and grief, we simply do not know how to pray or what to pray for. The weight of major life changes, depression, anxiety, and grief can render us weak physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Yet there is great freedom in the reality that even in our weakest moments the Spirit is already there to help us. Right in the midst of the sighs too deep for words comes the comforting breath of the Spirit.

Often when I am accompanying families at the hospital through their weak moments, I turn to hymns and spirituals for comfort and strength. Recently, a weary mother and I sang Thomas Dorsey’s "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" together while we waited for her child’s test results, as nothing else seemed appropriate to say in that space.

Thanks be to God for the Spirit who intercedes for us, even in our weakest moments.

By Ashley-Anne Masters from D365