What We Get, Dad?
What We Get, Dad?
“What we get, Dad? What we get?”
This was the question I was greeted with by my two year old, Theo, the other day when I returned home from the grocery store.
“What we get, Dad? What we get?”
As he fumbled through the grocery bags, I couldn’t help but smile at the wording of his question. “What we get, Dad? What we get?” That’s some terrible grammar right there.
He kept saying it to himself as he fumbled through the bags searching for his “puffies” (think healthy-ish Cheetos that taste sort of like Styrofoam and you’re on the right track).
Even though his grammar was far from meticulous, even though “What we get” would never fly amongst most adults or in grade school, I understood exactly what he was saying.
I knew what he was getting at. “What did you get at the store, Dad? What groceries did you bring home? Did you get any puffs? Dad, what did you get?” These were the questions he was asking.
Even though his language wasn’t perfect
Even though his grammar wasn’t ideal
Even though his words weren’t correctly arranged
I understood it all. Every. Single. Word.
His words didn’t need to be perfect for me to understand what he was communicating and guess what: your words don’t need to be perfect for your heavenly father to understand you perfectly either.
I often find when it comes to prayer that many people, even devout Christians who have walked with God much of their lives, often stumble when it comes to prayer. What do I say? Where do I start? Am I saying it right? Are there words I should say or others I should avoid?
Jesus expresses a similar sentiment in Matthew 6 saying, “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ~ Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)
If you’ve got some concerns about prayer, if you’re not sure what to say, worried you’ll say something wrong or do it wrong, you are literally in the perfect posture to get praying.
God knows what you need before you even ask. We don’t pray because it informs God of our needs, we pray because it reminds us that we need God, that God is our provider – that He is good, and we can trust Him with everything on our hearts and in our lives.
My son’s sentences were far from grammatical perfection, but wow, did I love hearing him speak to me. Hearing those words, “What we get, Dad?” absolutely thrilled my heart, not because they were the right words, but because they were his words.
Psalm 51 says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” ~ Psalm 51:17 (NIV)
A broken and contrite heart, a humble and honest heart, God will not despise, look down upon, ignore, or turn away from.
Dear reader, this is such good news.
Jesus said, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” ~ Luke 6:45 (NIV)
If you’re wanting to pray, but don’t know how
If you’re wanting to pray, but feel you don’t have the right words
If you’re wanting to pray, but don’t know where to start or you’re afraid that you’ll say the wrong thing, take heart!
From humble and honest hearts flow humble and honest words and God will not despise those words or despise those hearts.
You don’t have to have the right words for your Heavenly Father to understand you.
You don’t have to have the right words for your Heavenly Father to hear you.
Just start speaking. Let your words be few and honest, but just start and see what happens.
You may not get the words right, but that’s okay. It’s never been about the words we choose; it’s about choosing Jesus. Knowing this, maybe think of prayer as searching through God’s grocery bags this week. Ask Him, “What we got, Dad?” and see what He says.
