HOW LOUD IS LOUD?

"The Lord wants you to be loud," Melanie admonished me. "Shout, sing and pray as loud as you can," she urged.

Melanie's never heard me scream when a spider unexpectedly appears in my vicinity or she wouldn't have included 'shout' in her admonition! Of course, it goes without saying that a shout is loud -- otherwise it wouldn't be a shout!

But 'sing' loudly? I'm no metropolitan opera star, and I wouldn't want to subject the neighbors to a rousing rendition of my annual birthday complaint, "The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be." The Psalmist David does exhort us to "make a joyful noise" unto the Lord. I guess my birthday song would qualify as "noise" but certainly not as "joyful!"

And why pray loudly? Isaiah 59:1 states, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear" (KJV).

I learned my lesson about loud praying in a rather unique way. I lived in the second story of a somewhat congested neighborhood. Each night before retiring, I voiced my petitions to the Heavenly Father in the quietness and solitude of my living room, unmindful of the open window nearby. One evening my throat must have been bothering me as I prayed, and I kept clearing it periodically while voicing my personal and private prayers, not loudly, but in a normal tone. Imagine my surprise when, after a few minutes, a male voice from the adjoining apartment building boomed out, "Lady, are you having trouble with your throat?"

That's when I learned the value of Matthew 6:6; "But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you" (Living Bible Paraphrase).

Prayer doesn't have to be loud to reach the throne of God.

Preacher's Kid

P.S. During the past five years that I've been married, I've also learned that loud praying is not wise during the night when my spouse is asleep beside me sawing logs for all he's worth.