PrintPraying A Wordless Prayer.
Is there such a thing? Wordless prayer? Non-verbal prayer? I belong to that generation(s) of believers who have been led to understand that prayer consists of words and if we are not saying words, then we are not praying.
One example of that perspective uses the four letters A.C.T.S. to summarize the essence of prayer - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. I think that is helpful when it comes to the verbal dimension of prayer. But prayer is much more than the verbal expression of our worship, confession, gratitude and needs.
In saying the above, I am not wanting to diminish the place of verbal prayer. Rather, I want to enlarge our understanding of prayer and identify and commend other aspects of our communion (or communication) with God.
One such aspect of a wider understanding is what I suspect is found in the phrase, "Wait on the Lord". The number of times this idea of waiting for the Lord in, say, the Psalms, is quite surprising. It seems to me to convey the ideas of inaction, silence, listening. Yet it also conveys for me the sense of anticipation, focus and readiness.
Ps 37:7 (NIV) Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.
That verse helps enlarge my understanding of prayer. It anticipates the Lord's initiative in due course and my response. It doesn't require words; in fact, words might well neutralize the value of the silence. My problem relates to the word, "patiently". I can wait but not for long!
He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31 (NLT)
I guess too many of us relate to the words, "tired", "worn out", "weak", "exhausted", "give up" while, at the same time, we long to experience "new strength" so we can fly like eagles, run without weariness, walk without fainting.
The difference between exhaustion and strength is found in the phrase, "wait on the Lord".
