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.
