Praying the Word
by Joni Eareckson Tada
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11
Yesterday I invited you to use the Psalms — especially the questions in Psalm 77 — to express your emotions toward God. Something happens when we handpick a portion of God’s Word to voice our heart-wrenching questions, “for the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). There’s power in God’s Word. When we search the Scriptures to find words to wrap around our wretchedness, we are speaking God’s language. And God answers.
Jesus sets the example. When it comes to heartfelt questions and emotional pain, Jesus experienced both like no human ever has. He did not linger in the damp fog of Gethsemane. He moved in the direction of His Father and proceeded to the cross. There, He aimed His cries Godward, not choosing His own words to wrap around His wretchedness, but–you guessed it–the words of a psalm. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He groaned, quoting Psalm 22:1. Praise His name, you and I became God’s answer to Jesus’ plea!
This does not mean our questions get answers. It doesn’t mean cancer gets cured, wars cease, and drunk drivers stay at home. But God will respond to His Word. Instead of answers, we will find theAnswer. When we turn toward God in our heartache, He promises our anguished hearts will find Jesus. And He is the One who holds all the answers — and all the questions — in His hand.
I turn to You today, dear God. I voice Your Word. Thank You for listening. Thank You for moving in my life.
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
 
 
Taken from Pearls of Great Price
Copyright © 2006
By Joni Eareckson Tada
Published in Print by Zondervan, Grand Rapids
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version.
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