God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along.
If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter.
He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
Romans 8:26 (MSG)
For many non-verbal individuals, communication devices, also called Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, enable them to express themselves and interact with others. One such device is VocaliD which creates a custom voice by recording whatever sound a child is able to make, whether it’s a word, a syllable or simply a sustained “ah.” After scouring for a voice ‘donor’ – someone approximately the same age and gender as the ‘recipient,’ – a computer program “blends the recipient’s voice recording with the donor’s voice. “We create a voice that’s as understandable as the donor, but has the unique vocal characteristics, or identity, of the recipient,” Patel says. “Having a unique voice could help nonverbal people with autism ‘breakthrough’ social and communication barriers,” says Pat Mirenda, professor of educational and counseling psychology at the University of British Columbia, who is not involved in the project. “I think it has huge potential for how people perceive and respond to that individual, and for how that individual sees him or herself.”
Too often, I find myself struggling for words when I pray. Because I live in a fallen world, my sin renders me unable to effectively articulate my greatest yearnings and inner struggles. Sometimes I don’t truly know what my soul needs most. I need a ‘donor,’ someone who is not afflicted by sin, who can form petitions from my wordless sighs and groanings.
God doesn’t care so much about eloquence as much as the content of my heart and mind. His Spirit ‘breaks through’ all barriers and carries my cares to the very throne of God where I find mercy and healing. This is the wonder of grace.
Thought: “Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude – an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God.” – A.W. Pink
For further reading:
- Ephesians 6:18
- Matthew 10:20
- Ephesians 2:18
- Romans 8:15