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Eloquence
By Scott Harrup | May 16, 2008
I admire people who arrange complex ideas clearly and communicate them eloquently. You probably remember a favorite teacher or college professor with that gift. Maybe a minister or two.
The gift can also be misused. Most of us encounter professional spin artists urging us to invest our money or vote or commit our time in a manner we may realize too late is unwise.
Times of prayer would certainly be key moments to say something to greatest effect. You’re talking to God, the Creator.
Some prayers, when we hear them, are self-evidently powerful. Clearly, the person is in intimate conversation with heaven. There’s no pretension, posturing or selfish wish list. Just unhindered give and take with the Heavenly Father.
In my life, someone consistently comes to mind in that department. He might surprise you.
Our son Connor is 11 and, outwardly, severely constrained by cerebral palsy. But, wow, can he pray. It goes something like this …
Ohhhh …
It’s repeated a few times at varying lengths. Connor usually kicks in when he hears someone in our family offering a prayer. Sometimes, while we’re praying, we’ll hear him echoing with a gentle Yesss …
He’s got a two-word vocabulary in his prayer lexicon. I suspect he gets a lot more across than I do with thousands of words to choose from. When I listen to Connor pray, I’m reminded that the God who created every nuance of language is able to see right to the heart of what I need even when I don’t quite know how to express that myself.
For me, Connor is a living reminder of Jesus’ promise: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8, NIV).
Jesus wasn’t discouraging prayer. He followed that instruction with the simple yet profound lines of the Lord’s Prayer. But He invited us to remember that in the family of God, our Heavenly Father’s heart is intimately grafted with ours.
Sometimes, when everything seems to be piling up to bury us, we can move mountains with a simple Ohhhh, Yesss! uttered in faith.
Topics: Family Life, Bible |
May 29th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Very Moving, indeed…sometimes less is more!