Intimate Cries Of The Heart
“There are prayers of startling intimacy throughout the Bible. Many of the significant prayers in the Bible were the personal, intimate cries of the heart, only audible to the God they were intended for.
We don’t know what Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his barren wife, Rebekah. Throughout twenty-five years of pastoral ministry, my heart has broken for many couples who have agonized for a baby. The pain of barrenness is palpable. Rebekah knew that pain of barrenness, and Isaac shared it. He knew how much bearing a child meant to her. All we know is that he prayed. And we know the Lord answered his prayer. Rebekah became pregnant (Genesis 25:21). I’m sure if we could hear that prayer, we would hear a simple and unadorned request–one man asking the one God for one thing on behalf of the one woman he loved.
The Psalms are full of David’s heartfelt prayer-songs. Talk about intimate! He sings about his doubts, his fears, his sins, his confusion. David also sings about God’s goodness and faithfulness. It’s clear the Lord enjoyed their relationship. After all, God called David “a man after my own heart.”
John Wimber, Prayer: Intimate Communication (Anaheim: Vineyard Ministries International, 1997), 10.
