Tongue-tied

Tongue-Tied

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without heart.^a —John Bunyan

I’M ASHAMED to admit this. For a woman who is never without words, I sometimes get a bit tongue-tied when it comes to my prayers—especially when my spiritual walk has morphed into a spiritual crawl. Oh, I’m down on all fours all right, but I’m not exactly in a prayerful state of mind.

When I’m strolling with Jesus, it’s as if he is walking at my side. My conversation with him flows with all the focus and passion and clarity of a woman in love. I am in tune with him and can feel that he is also with me.

But let there be a change to my schedule, an upheaval to my world, or stresses due to imposed deadlines, and my conversations with God become clipped and abbreviated spiritual babble. This challenge to my prayer time has a negative effect on my spiritual growth. I lose focus on his will. I lose passion for our relationship. And I lose clarity in my ability to communicate clearly.

I try to pray, but I find myself tongue-tied. The perfect words to dialogue with the almighty God don’t surface. The wellspring of passion is depleted. I can hear the crickets chirping. Of course, this couldn’t come at a worse time. This is when I need his direction and guidance more than ever. And when he most lovingly longs to hear from me.

Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. For you are my hiding place;you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. (Psalm 32:6-7)

So rather than sit in silence when these dry spells come, I return to the prayers of my childhood. But this time I give them a big-girl spin.

^a John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress (London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1929).