One of the matters that has been heavy on my heart has been our family members who are not living lives of faith in Jesus, who are not followers of The Way. I even struggle to use the right language here. I don’t want to say they are not Christians, or aren’t saved, because that language is loaded these days! No, I would like to say, that I pray that they will become followers of Jesus, some for the first time, some again!

I ask God for many things in the tide of life. Prayers for peace, prayers for safety, prayers for health. I look to God for the strength to face tough times and His presence to be with us every day. When we say grace together at meals, Wendy and I always express thanks for our home, our food, each other, and our family. And we always ask God to provide for them – safety, and of course His presence. We do so because we believe that God’s presence is more important than anything else.

His presence does not mean that nothing bad or hard will come to them. Rather, we believe that His presence can give them the strength they need for whatever life brings.

But in faith we pray, believing that God, who hears our prayers, responds to our faith by His love and mercy, knowing that He can do what we cannot, and what we may not know to pray for.

We pray because we are invited to by our Heavenly Father. And it was modelled by Jesus, who obviously impressed his disciples by his prayers, for they asked Him to teach them to pray. There are no other recorded requests by the disciples. They express a desire to heal like he does or to have power over evil, but only at this point do they say “teach us”. Of course as a Rabbi, he was always teaching.

I have always been attracted to people who pray well, who can express well what we find difficult to find words to express. I think that’s a wonderful thing. People like Junior Hynes, Colley Jackson, Ed Read, and others caught my attention.

But isn’t it wonderful to know that the Bible tells us when “we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf with groans that words cannot express”.

Dear Lord – give words to my unspoken thoughts and my unexpressed desires for those I love, and help me love as you do!

Amen.