Is it possible to pray without words?
Not all prayer requires words, for it is possible to pray in mind and heart. The Scriptures teach: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom 8:26–27; see Q402).
This form of prayer is called spiritual or noetic (from the Greek nous, the ‘mind’ or perceptive faculty; see the Study below), and also ‘prayer of the heart and mind.’ It is inward prayer, in contrast with prayer expressed in words and accompanied by other marks of devotion, which is called oral or outward prayer.
Christians must be aware that outward prayer can be offered without sincerity, attention, or conformity of life.
The Scriptures mention several attitudes and actions that defeat our prayers: sin (Psa 66:18; Isa 59:2; Jer 14:10–12), disobedience (Prv 28:9; see Q435), hypocrisy and insincerity (Isa 29:13; Mal 1:7–9), wrong motives (Mat 6:5–6; Luk 18:11–14; Jas 4:3; see Q435), lack of faith (Heb 11:6; Jas 1:6; see Q003, Q077), and even marital discord (1Pe 3:7): “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even his prayers are detestable” (Prv 28:9; see Q435).
Outward prayer alone is not pleasing to God, and deliberate hypocrisy in prayer is both vain and destructive. As the Apostle warns: “there are those who have an outward appearance of godliness but deny its power: avoid such people” (2Ti 3:5).
As the Lord warns: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they express adoration before me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ Indeed, you set aside the commandment of God and hold fast to human tradition” (Mrk 7:6–8).
To separate inward and outward prayer entirely would be like asking whether the soul alone might not suffice, without need of the body. Such questions are idle: God has been pleased to make human beings a unity of soul and body (see the Study: Body, Soul and Spirit); and it is equally idle to ask whether inward prayer alone may suffice without outward forms.
Since human beings have both soul and body, we ought to glorify God in our bodies and in our souls, which are God’s (1Co 6:20; see Q506). Moreover, it is not only the teaching of Scripture but universal human experience that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luk 6:45; Mat 12:34; see Q227).
The example of our Lord Jesus Christ is paramount for all Christians (1Co 11:1; see Q492, Q562): spiritual in the highest degree, he nevertheless expressed his prayer in words and in devout gestures of the body, lifting up his eyes to heaven (Joh 17:1; see Q524), kneeling (Luk 22:41), and even falling with his face to the ground (Mat 26:39; see Q266, Q360).
Outward prayer, including the reading of the Psalter and the use of the Church’s written prayers, is also a means of bringing heart and mind to spiritual attentiveness, as St Ignatius Brianchaninov writes:
Experience will teach everyone who practices prayer that saying aloud a few Jesus Prayers, and all prayers in general, is a great help in preventing the mind from being robbed by distraction. In the event of a violent attack of the enemy, when a weakening of the will and a darkening of the mind is felt, vocal prayer is indispensable. (St Ignatius Brianchaninov, On the Prayer of Jesus)
