More Than Words
God wants to listen to our prayers–he is deeply interested in our lives, and he seeks to hear us, understand us, and truly know us.
But we still ask questions. “Is God really listening, when I know he is so high and lofty? Could he really, truly care for little, old me?” Yes, he truly is and yes, he truly does. But a second question we might ask is this: “Is God really listening, when I don’t know what to say or how to say it?” On the one hand, we wonder if God is even listening given who God is (so high above us); but then in our deep insecurity, we wonder if God is even listening given who we are (bumbling and stumbling in our prayers).
I have been so encouraged by this line from Philip Yancey: “Sometimes I wonder if my words may be the least important part of prayer.” There are some tremendous truths packed into that little line. I want to share just two of them.
First, we don’t have to worry about our bumbling and stumbling words–wondering if they adequately communicate the deepest desires of our heart, because God the Spirit who dwells in our heart intercedes for us and communicates what we cannot and when we cannot. This is Romans 8 as well. The Spirit of God “bears witness with our spirit.” What this means, says Paul, is that the Spirit helps us in our prayers:
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27)
The “groanings too deep for words” has sometimes been read as “holy grunts” from the Spirit. But I think it’s more likely that it’s you and I who experience the groaning–we are the ones who don’t know what to say or how to say it, but when all we have is a howl or a wail, God’s Spirit takes that and interprets it to the Father.
Is there any better passage to assure us that God listens to our prayers? Suppose you wonder if the President of the United States would ever take your call. He is so busy, so important, and who am I, anyway? You can just imagine what he would be thinking if his secretary said, “Mr. President, it’s Nathan Guy on line 1 for you.” He’d say “Who? Who cares!” But what if the secretary said, “it’s your son on line 1?” He’d take the call.
Don’t you see what Paul is saying here? It’s God’s Spirit that is on line 1, ready to take to the Father the deepest longings of our heart–even the ones we can’t fully articulate.
And the analogy is even closer to home. The Father listens to us, for he knows our need before we ask. The Spirit listens to us, for he takes our groanings to the throne room on our behalf, directing our prayers according to the Father’s will. But the Son–Jesus Christ the Son—listens to our prayers. For the Bible also says Jesus Christ is our Great High priest at the right hand of the Father. And what is he doing there? Paul tells us in Romans 8. Look at verse 34:
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Rom 8:34).
God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit–-indeed all of heaven is intimately involved in your prayer life, even when you don’t have words.
You want even more encouragement? God listens so intently–he hears your prayers, he hears your groanings and turns them into prayers, and he hears your conversations with others and interprets them as prayers.
In Malachi chapter 3, “those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord” listened in. He “listened attentively, and heard it.” And he took down names.
“But,” you say, “I’m a woman or man of few words. What about me?” He doesn’t just listen to your prayers, and he doesn’t just listen to your conversations with others. He listens to your whole life.
In Acts 10, we have a story you’ve heard before: the story of Cornelius. You remember him. Cornelius is the first “gentile conversion story” Luke tells us about. You remember that God called Peter to go and share the good news with Cornelius. But let me share something with you that perhaps you didn’t notice the last time you read that story.
Do you remember what the angel said to Cornelius to reassure him that God listens? The angel said “Cornelius, your prayers and your gifts to the poor have come up (ascended) as a memorial before God.” It doesn’t say “memorials” (plural), but one “memorial.” That means “Cornelius, what you said to God and what you did for others have combined as one loud and clear message to the Father.”
God hears not just what we say, but also what we do. Oh, I imagine if you grew up with that All-seeing-eye God, that could be a scary line. But I don’t hear it that way. I hear reassurance. Speak to God, he wants to listen. When you all you can do is grunt, God will speak to God and tell him desires too deep for words. When you talk about God and share your concerns with your friends, God listens to that as well, and hears what’s on your heart. And even when not a single word is said, what you do for others is heard as a prayer to God.
In all these ways, God listens. Through all these ways, as the song goes, “my Jesus knows just what I need. Oh yes he knows just what I need. He satisfies, and every need supplies, yes He knows just what I need.”
Believe it church. “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
-Nathan Guy