Sometimes, when your prayer life is dry and you have no words of your own, you can borrow from the saints of old.

I’ve been a longtime fan of The Book of Common Prayer which has collects and prayers to use throughout the year. Also, I really love The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers that will rock your socks off.

The best way to pray when you don’t have any words of your own is to pray Scripture. I believe that there’s nothing God honors more in prayer than His own words prayed back to Him. After all, when we’re at a loss for words in prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

This one that I’ve posted is a good prayer for both morning and evening. It works as the first prayer of the day or the last before your head hits the pillow at night:

“God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing” (The Sarum Prayer).