Sometimes when I am praying, I feel this uneasiness. I feel like maybe I am not expressing myself correctly. Maybe I am forgetting something or someone or perhaps I am not being as specific as I need to be.
I have to stop and remind myself that God knows exactly what I need. He already knows. Matthew 6:8: “For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” I don’t have to worry about getting all of the words out just right.
This morning when I opened up my bible for my quiet time, I turned to the following scriptures, which confirmed this to me.
Ecclesiastes 5: 1 – 3
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.
Prayer is not a game where if you don’t know the “password,” you don’t get to move to the next place on the board. Prayer is a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God (Wikipedia). It is a conversation with God. But most importantly, I believe prayer is about aligning ourselves with God’s will.
Just after Jesus told us God knows what we need, he told us how to pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” – Matthew 6:9-13
It is easy to feel so many words and speak like a fool, assuming you know what is best for your life.
But the truth is God’s will for our life is best. We must learn to listen. We must learn to trust. We must learn to be quiet.
God has so much he wants to say to us but so often we are so busy talking or just so busy period, that we do not stop and listen. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” If you do not take that time to be still, you will miss knowing God.
When it comes to prayer, perhaps the best time to listen is when we have the most to say.
My father used to remind me that God gave me one mouth, but two ears.
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