Unshackled Moments ~ June 8 ~ Baby Talk

Communication is important in relationships, so much so that new parents begin working at it moments after birth. They may be using a silly tone and "baby" talk, but the truth is there is no newborn baby talk. Babies not only can't talk, they can't understand what they hear.  A mother asks a baby if he needs to be changed, knowing the answer and that the baby can communicate no better than the screaming already being done. Sooner or later the child grows and begins to understand, Usually the first word they get down really well is "NO," They begin to talk themselves, repeating what they've heard. First words, spoken poorly, and then phrases. In a few years or so our children can sit down and really have a conversation.

But it takes a while to get from birth to some spoken word toddlers to conversing child, and I won't even get into properly speaking adult, since most of us don't do all that well at that, even after 12 years or more of school. We understand this about people. No one talks to a three month old baby and really expects her to understand what is being said, much less to respond with words of her own. But when we begin our spiritual life as new babes in Christ we get frustrated with our inability to speak well to our Creator and or recognize and understand that still small voice. We want to converse with our Daddy like an educated person should be able to do, but the truth is we're babies. We don't always recognize what is and isn't the voice of God. We don't understand how to say what our spirits long to say. Don't be discouraged. Don't just not pray.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray He gave them a model prayer Yes, there are some principles in the model that we could discuss, but more than that is the idea that you learn to pray by praying. You learn to recognize the voice of your Daddy by spending enough time with Him to hear Him often enough that He becomes familiar to you. You learn to speak by parroting His words back to Him until you begin to understand what you are saying and can start putting the words together yourself. We are children of God. Let's talk to Him today, even if all we can grasp is "Da Da I love you, You love me. Amen.".