How often the most powerful prayers are those that never pass the lips, but rise from the soul like incense before the throne. The publican in the temple dared not so much as lift his eyes, yet his silent cry shook the gates of heaven and brought down justification. So these unspoken petitions, known only to the searching heart, are already laid before the God who heareth in secret. Before you framed the thought, He discerned it; while you formed the unuttered sigh, His ear was open. What a comfort that no weakness of expression, no poverty of language, can hinder a prayer that is born of the Spirit and wafted to the mercy seat on the breath of childlike trust!
Yet let us be careful that our silence speaks not of unbelief, but of that sacred intimacy which needs no multiplied words. A wife and husband long wedded may commune in a look, a tear, a clasp of the hand. So the soul that walketh closely with God knows the secret of brief, winged petitions which fly swifter than thought and return laden with blessings. Only see to it that the ground of your asking is the blood of the everlasting covenant. No request, however secretly whispered, finds acceptance but through the Mediator. Would you have these silent desires answered? Then let them be sprinkled with the crimson drops, and presented in the name that is above every name. God is a prayer-hearing God, but He dard not, I speak with reverence, He dard not smile upon any petition that cometh not endorsed by His own Son. There, and there alone, is the key that openeth the heart of the Eternal.
And what are these silent requests? Are they for deliverance from some hidden bondage, for the salvation of a loved one far off, for victory over a secret sin that gnaws at the vitals? Oh, then, be of good courage! The Lord knoweth them that are His, and He knoweth every moan of the prison-house, every clank of the chain. He hath said, “Before they call, I will answer.” Rejoice, then, that you have a God who can read the illegible groanings of the spirit, and who numbereth the very tears that never reach the cheek. Only trust Him, and these silent messengers shall not return void. They shall accomplish that which you scarce dare to hope, and bring to birth mercies you have not words to name.
Still, let this silence not breed a lazy familiarity. The soul that delighteth to preserve a holy quietness must also break forth at times into loud thanksgiving. Your note of praise is not silent, let it ring out to His honor. And remember, while you carry these things to God alone, He may yet call you to bear another’s burden and to speak a word in season. The same Spirit which prompteth the secret cry may bid you go and be the answer to another’s prayer. Watch, then, and wait, and let your life be the echo of your closet. For every silent petition, there is a silent grace preparing, the Comforter Himself is making intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered, and He shall yet fill your mouth with testimony and your heart with holy fire.