Beyond

Driving home from work today, I heard a song on the radio that really made me pause and listen. I've heard it before, and have even sung along with it, but today I really listened to it. I don't know the name of it, or who sings it, but the chorus is: "Word of God speak, won't you pour down like rain, washing my eyes to see your majesty. So be still and know that you're in this place, please let me stay and rest in your holiness." (I was at a stoplight for a while, so I had time to write down the words.)
There's another line in the song that says something like, "The last thing I need is to be heard, but to hear your voice." That one brought me up short, because so often in my prayer life, I find myself saying: Listen to me, God.... Hear what I'm saying.... Do you hear me talking to you? I fill up my prayer time with words. With noise. And I don't stop to listen, to hear what God is saying to me. Sometimes I'm afraid to listen to God. If I listen, I'll have to do what he's calling me to do. He has such a compelling voice...how could I not do what he asks? But what if he asks me to do something scary?
So my prayers consist of me talking, talking, talking. (Which is kind of funny, because, as many people can attest to, I'm not a very talkative person.) But, "The last thing I need is to be heard..." The last thing I need.... In Sunday School we hear that prayer is how we talk to God, in Bible studies we learn the power that prayer has...and yet, talking to God is the least of it. Hearing him speak to us is what prayer is about. "Beyond the music, beyond the noise" is his voice. And that's really what's most important, isn't it? God's Word to us. Those are the words that have power.
"Word of God speak, won't you pour down like rain, washing my eyes to see your majesty. So be still and know that you're in this place. Please let me stay and rest in your holiness."
And finally, the last line of the song: "I'm finding myself at a loss for words, and the funny thing is, it's okay."