HE KNOWS OUR WORDS BEFORE WE SPEAK
The psalmist says, “For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). In one simple sentence, Scripture sweeps away the idea that prayer must always be polished, spoken, or neatly arranged. God knows our words before they reach our lips. He knows the tremble in the heart before it becomes a sentence, the longing before it forms into sound, the burden before it becomes audible. Prayer, then, is not a performance—it is the soul turning toward God, sometimes with words, sometimes with sighs, sometimes with nothing but silent need.
In this way, prayer can become as natural as breathing, because God listens not merely to the voice but to the inner life from which the voice rises. Scripture confirms this beautifully. “Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You” (Psalm 38:9). David did not say his prayers were before the Lord—he said his desires were. Even his sighing, that wordless ache of the heart, was heard in heaven. God receives the unspoken as surely as the spoken; the whispered thought as surely as the shouted plea.
We see this in Hannah as well. She “spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard” (1 Samuel 1:13). Yet Scripture says God answered her. Heaven did not require volume. Heaven required sincerity. And the God who knows our frame, who understands our weakness, who sees the hidden places of the heart, responded to a prayer that never became sound. This is one of the great comforts of Scripture: our Father hears the prayers that never escape our minds.
Paul deepens this truth even further. He writes that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26). When we cannot speak—when the heart is too heavy, the mind too weary, the grief too deep—the Spirit Himself prays for us with prayers beyond language. This means our silence is not empty; it is filled with divine intercession. Our inarticulate moments are not failures; they are invitations for God to carry what we cannot express.
So let every believer be encouraged: a thought can be a prayer. A yearning can be a prayer. A single look heavenward can be a prayer. When the words fail, God does not. He knows the heart before it speaks, and He receives the unspoken cry as surely as the spoken one. Prayer is not limited to the tongue—for the God who formed our minds listens to every sincere thought that rises toward Him. Let us come to Him, then, not only with our words, but with our hearts laid open before the One who understands them completely.
Lord, You know my words before they are spoken, and You hear the quiet thoughts I cannot shape into sentences. Teach me to rest in Your nearness, praying even in the silent places of my heart. Receive my sighs as prayer, my longings as worship, and my thoughts as offerings of trust. Draw me close as I breathe out my need and breathe in Your peace. Amen.
BDD
