Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

~Romans 8:26-28 MSG

 

What a beautiful picture these verses paint of the intimacy with which the Father knows and cares for us. 

Our prayers don’t need to be eloquent, or even coherent to be understood by Him. Our groans and our tears are laced with thousands of thoughts and feelings that lose their way on the way to our lips, but they are not lost to God. In His profound mercy, He interprets every sigh and understands the hurt behind every groan and the reason and meaning of every tear. His heart overflows with compassion. 

What a wonder to consider that He knows it all in infinite detail and without hesitation, He still claims us as His own. He reaches out through gentle, nail-scarred hands to lift us and hold us close to His heart.

Beloved, are you hurting, anxious, or in need of peace and the embrace of the Father? 

Father God, I come before You by the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who shed His blood to save me. I pour out my heart to You, holding nothing back.  Your shoulders are broad to carry it all, and like a mother, Your ears discern the meaning of every cry. Where I am at a loss for words, let my groans and sighs be understood by You. Hear the voice of my tears.

Jehovah-Rapha, God my Healer, minister healing to my pain and grief. May suffering be met with compassion, dismay with peace, confusion with wisdom, and plight with deliverance. Fill the emptiness with the fullness of Your Spirit, and answer poverty with Your abundance.

In Your grace and mercy, give me consolation in Your presence. God of all comfort, hear me both in my torrent of words and tearful silence.  I need You, Lord.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2021: The Voice of Our Tears: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly: All Rights Reserved