My children have been a wonderful source of joy and laughter. Most of the time, they do that simply because they are fun to be around. But many times throughout their short little lives, it is because of what they have heard incorrectly. Here's just one example from each, all from when they were 4 or 5.
Jacie: She used to listen to a kid's tape of Bible verse songs at night to go to sleep. One morning she came out singing 'Bagel eat, and not the weeds, bagel eat, ooo ooo ooo.' After some thought, we realized the song said 'Be the wheat and not the weeds.' Although eating bagels is a good thing too.
Luke: His music was a little more rock-n-roll. He came out of his room one day playing the air guitar while sing-shouting 'White Giddy Up! White Giddy Up!' If not for the tune being close to perfect, I would not have figured out he was singing Skillet's Waking Up. (Say it out loud to yourself a few times, add that rock star mumble, and you can see how it works.)
Jerica: Our youngest is surprisingly good at memorization of songs and pledges. Although, she does have the Pledge to the American Flag and the Pledge to the Christian Flag somewhat mixed up and combined. (Then again, so do many Christians.) But her breakfast options were clearly not being communicated in a way she could understand. For she came out one morning hungry and asking for Crap-n-Crunch. Despite what you think of sugary cereals, it does not taste that bad.
Little kids are not the only ones who misunderstand and misinterpret. It happens to all of us. Dates get mixed up in our heads. Details are missed. Mayhem ensues. Just because we're talking with one another does not mean we are communicating.
We are trying, oh, how we are trying. We'll underline important things to remember, add exclamation points to important dates, and have reminders set up all over the place so we do not forget. I have been known to have my watch alarm, computer reminders, and cell phone alarms go off to remind me to look at the string on my finger so I don't forget...now what was it I was trying to remember?
Try as we might, we are not always the best at communicating. Sometimes we don't even know our urgent needs.
I think I've seen this happen in prayer as well. We're trying to remember all the things we promised we'd pray for. On top of that, we're trying to figure out how to best say the words to God, perhaps hoping for that magic key to God's will.
But I have been to the end of the prayer road and I'm sure you have as well. We know that we should be praying something, anything at all, because we believe in the power. But we don't know what. And we might even be scared that God might misunderstand our prayers. What if we ask for the wrong thing? What if what we ask for is un-Biblical?
Well, I have good news for you. You don't have to worry about not saying anything at all. See, God knew ahead of time that we are weak and we sometimes mis-communicate. So He hooked us up with His Spirit.
Enough said.
Jacie: She used to listen to a kid's tape of Bible verse songs at night to go to sleep. One morning she came out singing 'Bagel eat, and not the weeds, bagel eat, ooo ooo ooo.' After some thought, we realized the song said 'Be the wheat and not the weeds.' Although eating bagels is a good thing too.
Luke: His music was a little more rock-n-roll. He came out of his room one day playing the air guitar while sing-shouting 'White Giddy Up! White Giddy Up!' If not for the tune being close to perfect, I would not have figured out he was singing Skillet's Waking Up. (Say it out loud to yourself a few times, add that rock star mumble, and you can see how it works.)
Jerica: Our youngest is surprisingly good at memorization of songs and pledges. Although, she does have the Pledge to the American Flag and the Pledge to the Christian Flag somewhat mixed up and combined. (Then again, so do many Christians.) But her breakfast options were clearly not being communicated in a way she could understand. For she came out one morning hungry and asking for Crap-n-Crunch. Despite what you think of sugary cereals, it does not taste that bad.
Little kids are not the only ones who misunderstand and misinterpret. It happens to all of us. Dates get mixed up in our heads. Details are missed. Mayhem ensues. Just because we're talking with one another does not mean we are communicating.
We are trying, oh, how we are trying. We'll underline important things to remember, add exclamation points to important dates, and have reminders set up all over the place so we do not forget. I have been known to have my watch alarm, computer reminders, and cell phone alarms go off to remind me to look at the string on my finger so I don't forget...now what was it I was trying to remember?
Try as we might, we are not always the best at communicating. Sometimes we don't even know our urgent needs.
I think I've seen this happen in prayer as well. We're trying to remember all the things we promised we'd pray for. On top of that, we're trying to figure out how to best say the words to God, perhaps hoping for that magic key to God's will.
But I have been to the end of the prayer road and I'm sure you have as well. We know that we should be praying something, anything at all, because we believe in the power. But we don't know what. And we might even be scared that God might misunderstand our prayers. What if we ask for the wrong thing? What if what we ask for is un-Biblical?
Well, I have good news for you. You don't have to worry about not saying anything at all. See, God knew ahead of time that we are weak and we sometimes mis-communicate. So He hooked us up with His Spirit.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26
Enough said.
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