One of the common phrases I hear these days in most conversations is “You know what I mean?” It’s interesting to notice the different responses to this question. Most adults say “Oh yah!” as a response, while most young people say “I guess…” with a very uncertain look on their face. And there are those few courageous young kids who say “I have no idea what you are saying” (may be that is the most honest response of all).
I was recently praying with a group of students and one of the student in his prayer fumbled and immediately said “Lord, you know what I mean” with a smile. I do not remember what he prayed for after that, but I was stuck at the statement and spent the next few minutes thinking about God’s knowledge of us. We use the phrase “you know what I mean” in our conversations with people because there is a great possibility of the other person not getting what we are trying to say or communicate. A statement on a kid’s T-shirt got my attention recently, it said “I can see your lips moving, but all I hear is bla bla bla…”
“I can see your lips moving, but all I hear is bla bla bla…”
There are several reasons why people do not get what we are trying to communicate, may be they are not paying attention, or may be our communication skills are poor, maybe we are not using the right words or maybe they simply do not care. “You know what I mean?” is a question to make sure that the other person is on the same page. By asking that question we are trying to make sure that the other person is getting our point, but do we really need to say that to God? I spent the next few days thinking about this, and here is the lesson I learnt. In most forms of communications the speaker has a greater responsibility to prepare and present the content in such a way that the listener gets the message. The speaker has to clear all the barriers of communication and use illustrations, examples, and repetitions to make the content appealing.
When we pray let us stop trying to impress or inform God with our prayers
Even though prayer is a form of communication, it is very different from the other forms of communications. In prayer we are not trying to inform God of things that are happening around us (as if God does not know), nor are we trying to impress God with our religious words. In fact the Bible says “Your heavenly father knows what you need” (Matt 6:32) and he cares for us, therefore we do not need to inform or impress God. In prayer the most important thing that really matters is our heart, it is essential for us to learn in life that prayer is not just an act, it is an attitude. Hannah More says “Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness…not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul.” Therefore when we pray let us stop trying to impress or inform God with our prayers, instead let us focus on connecting our heart honestly with our heavenly father.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones notes “There are ideas in our hearts, there are wishes, there are aspirations, there are groanings, there are sighings that the world knows nothing about; but God knows them. So words are not always necessary. When we cannot express our feelings except in wordless groanings, God knows exactly what is happening.” I do not know about you, but when I first leant that God knows exactly what I am trying to say, it totally freed me from the pressure of trying to impress God with some religious words that are theologically accurate and grammatically perfect. If there is anyone in this whole wide world with whom we do not need to use the phrase “you know what I mean”; it is God. He knows exactly what we mean even though our words may not articulate the feelings.
Howard Hendricks tells the story of a young man who met Christ after many years of life in the world. After his conversion he went to his first prayer meeting. Everyone was getting up and uttering their flowery (and maybe showy) prayers. Finally, this new convert stood to pray and said, “Lord, this is Mel. I’m not sure whether you remember me or not . . . I met you last Tuesday night. I just wanted to say . . . well . . . Thank-you for changing my life.” And then he sat down. The simplicity and honesty of that prayer brought tears to the eyes of many. I sometimes wonder if I am just saying my prayers or am I really praying …you know what I mean?
God knows exactly what we mean even though our words may not articulate the feelings.
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
