What I wished for
Sometimes we can’t express what we want, even when we are in desperate need.
The birthday candle on my cupcake was flickering brightly. The traditional birthday song had been sung, as well as the Stevie Wonder version, and all I needed to do was to make that critical birthday wish and blow out the candle.
The wax was melting fast, and my family and friends were waiting, but my silent wish was hard to articulate, even to myself. I did not know how to ask, how to express my deepest desires and longings, or how to frame my contradictory set of needs before the candle melted into a pile of goo on my delicious cupcake. What were the right words, in ten seconds or less, for this once-a-year wish? As I finally blew out the candle, all I could think of was an expression I had spoken earlier when I struggled with the right words to pray: “God, you know my heart.”
Prayer is a critical component of a life of faith. It is intimate conversation with the Divine, a time of confession and forgiveness. Our prayers can be a period of lament and mourning or of celebration and praise. Our prayers are acts of thanksgiving and gratitude as well as requests and petitions. We can confidently expect that our prayers are heard and known before God.
