"Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King,
and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O LORD; in the morning will I direct my
prayer unto thee, and will look up."
Psalms 5:1-3
The psalmist cries out to the Lord in prayer. His prayer is directed into the Heavens. It is his desire that the Lord consider the words of his prayer, listening and hearking to the words. The tone of this text seems to be that of restlessness, urgency, or desperation. This writer is anxious to have his petition answered.
There are times in our lives when we cannot even begin to put our pain, our brokeness, our confusion into words. We stand before the Lord, weak and hurting souls. Romans 8: 26 comforts us with the assurance that, "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."
Groans, that is what they are. Our suffering and anguish roll out of our mouth in groans. Rasping, inarticulate, mumbled and jumbled guttural sounds that mean nothing to the human ear are all we can produce at the time. Moaning, groaning, tones of fatigue, exhaustion, despair.
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us. He breathes His holy breath upon them. They swirl and lift like a feather in the wind and soar to the heights of the throne of the Lord. What we are unable to express is placed at the feet of the Holy JEHOVAH; Lord of healing, Lord of peace, Lord our banner, Lord our shepherd, the Lord who is there. "And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
Find solace that your prayers are lifted up to the Lord. He will hear from Heaven. He will have mercy. He will send grace. He will comfort the weary and the worn. The gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6 shares perspective on prayer: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
There are no bad prayers when the Holy Spirit intercedes. The Lord who sanctifies is listening. Lift your voice in prayer to Him. He awaits.
