Prayer as Duo Listening
“What do you ask God when you pray?” Dan Rather, CBS news anchor once asked Mother Teresa.
“I listen,” she answered.
“Well then, what does God say?”
“He listens,” Mother Teresa smiled, “and if you don’t understand that, I can’t explain it to you.”
Prayer as duo listening. I like that. I need that. Because sometimes I simply do not have words. In this pandemic, I find myself speaking less words to actual people as I spend more time at home in front of a screen, but I am still inundated with words. And so are you.
Listen to this. Buy that. Subscribe to this.
Businesses and advertisers are gearing up to bombard us with the biggest advertisement deluge that has ever existed in the history of humankind. In the fight for our dollars, the message resonates that we deserve their products after all we have experienced in this pandemic, that their services hold the magic answer to all the anxiety and uncertainty stirred up in this global crisis.
The onslaught is relentless.
As a teenager, growing up in the 70’s, I was exposed to 500-1600 ads a day from newspapers, billboards, and television, according to writer Sam Carr in a recent article for PPCProtect. With the inundation of online advertising, researchers now estimate the number at 6000-10,000 ads a day.*
Every single day. Videos ads. Streaming ads. Social media ads.
In addition to ads, we also have the words from emails, social media posts, and conversations with co-workers, friends, and family members.
So. Many. Words.
Is it any wonder I experience bankruptcy when I want to pray, that I wrestle to be quiet inside myself? My word bank is used up by the $10,000 withdrawal every single day and sometimes I struggle to rub two worn pennies together. What can I do?
“I listen,” Mother Teresa had said. “God listens.”
Romans 8:26-27 CEV puts it this way, “In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.”
When we have no words, the Spirit of God in Christ communicates on our behalf. When we find ourselves bankrupt of syllables, it is okay to be quiet. To wait. To listen. To humbly seek His face and declare our need.
In our weak place of absolute poverty, a wordless conversation of relationship arises. Not nothingness, but His presence. Suddenly, in our prayerful listening, we aren’t so poor anymore.
But rich beyond measure.
This article recently appeared in the SanTan Sun News.
