It’s raining cats and _____ outside!

Completing this sentence should be no problem; you know the last word.  If the rain is really come down hard you might say, ‘it’s raining cats and dogs.’  (A phrase with an interesting background; I’ll share it with you sometime.)  Many times when you hear a familiar line you can finish the rest of sentence.   Today let me share a few lines from a few older hymns.  Check and see how good you are at ‘filling in the blanks’.  Have fun, but stay with me to the end.

“Before you left your room this morning, did you think to __________ ?”

“On bended knee we come, with a ___________ heart I come…bowing down before Your holy throne.”

“Father, in the morning, unto Thee I __________.”

“Lord, we come before Thee now; at Thy feet we ____________    bow.”

“My eyes are dry, my faith is old, my heart is hard, my __________ are cold.”

“When you pillow your head at the close of the day, and you meet with the Lord in __________.”

“The world has lost the right of __________ and saints have failed to __________ .”

No doubt you’ve realized each of these lines can be filled with only two words.  Have you figured it out?  Look again and you’ll realize the empty lines are more than just blanks in need of a word.  They represent an attitude and a behavior we need to have and model.  One more phrase to help drive the point home; “Father, hear the __prayer__ we offer…”

We talk about prayer and sometime we even remember to pray for a meal or when we tuck the kids into bed at night.  But is that the only time we come to call on the name of our Father in prayer?  You would admit that prayer comes easy when trials hit our life.  In the face of death and destruction we are ever so eager to pray.  (Remember Peter as he tried to walk on the water…Matthew 14?  His prayer was simple, “Lord, Save Me!”)  But would that we become a people who daily, without incident, bow before God’s throne and pray.  Just to say, ‘Good morning, Lord’ or ‘Thank You, Lord’.

Twenty years ago (1992) Steven Curtis Chapman and Jeff Moore combined their talents and penned a contemporary Christian song that addressed our prayer life with God.  A ‘hymn’ directed to the Lord of our life.  Notice the words from this song of encouragement…

“How do you explain, how do you describe a love that goes from east to west,
and runs as deep as it is wide.
You know all our hopes, Lord, You know all our fears.
And words cannot express the love we feel but we long for you to hear.

Chorus:
So listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing
a song of praise that flows from those You have redeemed.
We will use the words we know to tell You what an awesome God you are.
But words are not enough to tell You of our love, so listen to our hearts.”

If words could fall like rain from these lips of mine,
And if I have a thousand years, Lord, I would still run out of time.
If you listen to my heart, every beat will say:
‘Thank You for the Life, Thank You for the Truth, Thank You for the Way.’

Chorus:
So listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing a song of praise that flows from those You have redeemed.
We will use the words we know to tell You what an awesome God You are.
But words are not enough to tell You of our love, so listen to our hearts.”

We can say the words and fill in the blanks, but how we really feel about God will be heard in the beating of our hearts.  When you pray today remember the words you say are very important; you are talking to God.  So when you ‘pillow your head’, say a prayer of thanks for the day God has given you.  Talk with your Father and let Him know your struggles, your joys and your cares.  Use the words you know, but give Him your life to show; because I think you know…it’s more than just filling in the blanks.