Pensees: “Take with you words, and turn to the Lord”

“Take with you words, and turn to the Lord”

My prayer requests are stepping stones on a steep, rocky slope. My words are little mountain goats; hopping, leaping, skipping, stepping from one stone to the next, right and left, up and down, switching back, bouncing forward, but always upward. To the inexperienced observer it may seem that the fragile little goats are flitting from one craggy foothold to the next with aimless insouciance. But the mountain lover knows that the innate appetite of the little goat is the same as its final destination: the peaks.

My weak petitions, unutterable groans, deepest yearnings, petty requests, persistent askings, hopeful meditations, and inadequate words are always upwards. And they ultimately take me to the peaks I was created to enjoy: intimacy with my God.

“Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips” (Hosea 14:2).