A week after C. S. Lewis died in 1963, colleagues and friends gathered
in the chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford, England, to pay tribute to the man
whose writings had fanned the flames of faith and imagination in children and
scholars alike.
During the memorial service, Lewis’ close friend Austin Farrer noted
that Lewis always sent a handwritten personal reply to every letter he received
from readers all over the world. “His characteristic attitude to people in
general was one of consideration and respect,” Farrer said. “He paid you the
compliment of attending to your words.”
In that way, Lewis mirrored God’s remarkable attention to what we say to
Him in prayer. During a time of great difficulty, the writer of Psalm 66 cried
out to God (vv.10-14). Later, he praised the Lord for His help, saying,
“Certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer” (v.19).
When we pray, the Lord hears our words and knows our hearts. Truly we can say with the psalmist, “Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!” (v.20). Our prayers become the avenue to a deeper relationship with Him. At all times, even in our hours of deepest need, He attends to our words.
We always have God’s attention. (RBC)
