More Uncommon Prayers

"Oh, my Father, I have moments of deep unrest—moments when I know not what to ask by reason of the very excess of my wants. I have in these hours no words for Thee, no conscious prayers for Thee.

"My cry seems purely worldly; I want only the wings of a dove that I may flee away. Yet all the time, Thou hast accepted my unrest as a prayer. Thou hast interpreted its cry for a dove's wings as a cry for Thee, Thou hast received the nameless longings of my heart as the intercessions of Thy Spirit.

"They are not yet the intercessions of my spirit; I know not what I ask. But Thou knowest what I ask, oh my God. Thou knowest the name of that need which lies beneath my speechless groan. Thou knowest that, because I am made in Thine image, I can find rest only in what gives rest to Thee; therefore Thou hast counted my unrest unto me for righteousness, and hast called my groaning, Thy Spirit's prayer."


Rev. George Matheson, 1842-1906
in More Uncommon Prayers



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