A Spring journal entry

I love to pray. Conversing with the Lord is one of my favorite things. Interceding for others is one of my greatest privileges. Time on my knees is time well spent. But lately I have found that when I come to the Lord to pray for myself, I often don’t know how to articulate what I need.

It is ok, mind you, that I am clueless and short of words. Isaiah 65:24 says, “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.” Or, in other words, He knows my need before I ask and responds to the cry of my heart before it makes it to my lips. Today, I was grateful not only for this truth of God’s provision, but also for the one need of mine which I always know with certainty: I need God...I need my Jesus. Because that is all I know, I continually find myself on my face before His throne of grace...with or without words.

As I sat today with the Lord, I thought again of the verse from Psalm 81:10 that He had given me several weeks ago during a time of prayer where HE interceded for me. “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” As I considered this verse and the reality that I didn’t know what I was asking for--I simply desired to be filled by Him--to my mind came the picture of a baby bird.

The baby bird sits in the nest; it cannot yet fly because its wings would surely fail; it waits for its mother, who brings all it needs to be nourished as the baby bird expectantly sits with its mouth open wide. The mother knows what the baby bird needs; it cannot ask, but she knows when her child is hungry and what it needs to receive; she gathers for her own and provides for the unarticulated cravings of her young.

At this time in my life, I am God’s baby bird. I rest in the nest where He has set me with my mouth wide open, joyfully receiving all that I need from His own hand.