Saying it all, really

How can we say everything to God that should be said? Perhaps we may think that such a question is ridiculous. At one level, it would not be possible for us to say everything about a situation because of our limited knowledge of what is going on. But at another level, it is possible to speak to God in a way that addresses everything. We can do so when we pray even a short prayer such as ‘Lord, help me!’ We can see that is the case when we think about each of the three words in the petition.

In that prayer, we say everything about God (we mentioned his august name), we say everything about what we want God to do (help), and we say everything about who we are (me). It is also a prayer that admits we cannot be specific always about what God should do because we may not know the best action he could take. So to say ‘help’ is both an admission that we don’t know everything and an anticipation that the Lord is able to provide the help that we need.

Often, we find ourselves in situations when such a petition is not only suitable but also the only words that we can say. Perhaps we face a strong temptation from the devil that threatens to overcome us and we have no idea what to do. We can pray, ‘Lord, help me!’ Maybe we face sudden bad news that stuns us, and we feel so helpless, and all we can do is pray, ‘Lord, help me!’ Or we may be reading the Bible and come across a passage that we find difficulty in understanding. What can we do? We can pray, ‘Lord, help me!’

So it is possible to say something that covers all that we need. And it is good that we can say it in prayer. The fact is that the Lord is able to answer our prayers far above all that we can ask or think. It is good to know that answers to prayer are not dependent on our knowledge, but on what God knows. 

Of course, this does not mean that short petitions are the only kinds of prayers that we should make. But such petitions are a reminder of the effectiveness of prayer because they are one of the means of the almighty God coming to our aid.