WHEN GOD HEARS OUR IMPERFECT PRAYERS
“Leh pway!” My grandbaby shouts at the dinner table and the conversation ceases.
Little voices often report the biggest news.
“What’d you say, sweetie?” I lean over the plate of spaghetti, poised to meet her request.
“Lep pay!”
My eyes narrow, trying to read her rosebud lips, looking for a clue to help me understand. “Play? You want to play? Maybe later, OK?” I’’ll give her the moon and the stars, but first, she must eat her noodles.
“NO!” Her tiny shoulders square and fists pound the table. “PU-WO-AY!”
“You want to go potty? Did you see a parade?” I rattle off a few more “P” words, but I’m stumped.
Finally, little Miss hangs her head. She’s given up.
But I never will.
My mission is to ensure she knows she means the world to me.
My goal is to understand her heart.
Daddy appears, and she whispers in his ear. He translates with a wide smile.
“She wants to pray.”
“Ohhhhh! PRAY!!!” Pure joy beams from her face, joy worthy of a celebration. Even as I bow my head, I can’t wipe the grin off my face.
I’ve received the divine message loud and clear.
God doesn’t turn away from us when we can’t find the words. Instead, He comes closer.
We know that 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “Pray continually.”
Yet when we’ve prayed so hard for so long with no answers, we wonder if we’re doing it right.
But if a grandma studies each syllable and listens for every inflection of her grand baby’s cry, how much more does the Heavenly Father interpret our fumbling prayers into His perfect will?
In the silence, it’s tempting to believe otherwise.
It’s easy to assume God won’t understand your tongue-tied and soul-tangled attempts.
But the same God who knit you together in your mother’s womb also wove His love into the language of your heart. His hand rests on the pulse of your greatest need.
Even your unformed words don’t escape His notice.
His Spirit translates your groans and carries them into the throne room of your Holy and Merciful God.
So take heart!
Keep “pway-ing,” “pu-ow-ay-ing,” and praying. Keep pressing on until He answers.
You mean more than the world to your Almighty God.