What do you want from me?
There was a famous Afrikaans author who wrote: " 'n Halwe begryper het 'n goeie woord nodig. " It means that someone who only partially understands something needs a clear, encouraging, or well-chosen explanation to grasp it fully. He wrote this as a tongue-in-cheek play on a well-known Afrikaans saying that goes: " 'n Goeie begrip het 'n halwe woord nodig, " which means that someone who has good understanding only needs half an explanation to get the message. Which one of these describe God best? Does he understand our prayers easily and quickly, or does he need detailed, well-worded, explanatory prayers to understand our needs and desires? My first thought was that he is able to understand us and our needs easily and quickly; sometimes even without the need for words or even knowing exactly what we want in the first place (Isaiah 65:24; Matthew 6:32; Romans 8:26-27). He is, after all, God: the Creator of all living things (Colossians 1:16), the On...