Romans 8:26-27 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
Quite a number of believers want to have a sound prayer life. They have a mental picture of what a very great prayer life is and some even desire to be prayerful like a brother or sister they see as a model in that regard. However, when it is time to pray, they feel cold or weak about it. At other times, we get to the place of prayer but we do not know what we ought to pray about. The bible calls it a weakness or infirmity. This prayer "sickness" is common to all but God has provided a way out- the Holy Spirit. When you engage the Holy Spirit, He will help you to pray the perfect will of God by giving you utterances beyond intelligible words.
More often than not, we enter into prayer believing we have perfect words to present to God but we fail to realize our limitations. When you are lost for words in prayer, allow the Spirit give you utterances in another language: "And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." (vs 27). That's one of the essence of baptism with the Holy Spirit. You can pray in a known language and pray amiss but you cannot pray in tongues and pray amiss. That's my summary of verse 27. Stop struggling to pray, just surrender to the Holy Spirit. You are limited but He is not. You may have certain heart desires but may not know how to present them to God perfectly. Some start repeating words thinking God will hear them instead of praying in tongues. That's an unbiblical way to pray. Allow the Spirit help you in prayer.
Another important thing in prayer is that you can engage your heart. It is my believe that there are times we can pray with unspoken words. Prayer doesn't necessarily have to be verbalized or spoken loud. The best verse to indicate the validity of unspoken prayers is 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.” To pray unceasingly obviously cannot mean we are praying out loud all of the time. Rather, it means we are to be in a constant state of God-consciousness. This is very important. There are times when communion with God has to be silent and contemplative. This art is lost today among the Charismatics because we don't believe we have prayed until we shout. Sometimes, we make so much noise and end up saying nothing. We must learn to focus our heart on God and stay that way. There are times words aren't flowing because the Spirit may want us to be still in God's presence. Unceasing prayer will include prayers that are spoken, whispered, shouted, sung, and silent as we direct our thoughts of praise, petition, supplication, and thanksgiving to God. True prayer is not about words that are spoken or unspoken, it is about the heart that is in communion with God and focused on Him alone.
Father, I receive the grace to have an effective and fruitful prayer life in Jesus name