Well, it depends on how you define the word stupid!
“God, please make this water wet.”
That seems like a stupid prayer to pray, doesn’t it?
After all, we all know water is wet. It cannot be dry. How foolish it would be to ask God to make water wet. But, what if you didn’t know water was already wet when you asked? What if you did not have the knowledge, experience, or ability to understand that the nature of water was wetness?
How would God react? Would He snicker with the angels about your naivetes? Would He disregard your prayer with the notion, “I’ve already done that…next…” and just continue hearing other prayers that were more worthy of His attention?
I know this line of thinking is ludicrous! But, it isn’t as silly as you think if you read Joshua 10:12-14 and know anything about the laws of physics.
Joshua asked God to make the sun stand still.
Joshua was no astronomer! He had no ability to know the sun had stood still since the beginning of time! In fact, no one “knew” that fact until Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei.
The earth rotates around the sun, not the other way around. So, did God really answer such an ignorant prayer?
Apparently. But, not in the way Joshua thought He did. How God did it is not as important as why God did it.
God responds to what is in our hearts, not what is in our heads.
He is always listening to what we need, not just what we say. He knew Joshua was applying all his faith in prayer to God who he knew could and would accomplish great things. Joshua needed a longer day in order to defeat his enemy. He was simply praying for a few more hours to do what God had called him to do.
God heard the intent, motivation, and desire of Joshua’s heart and that enabled Him to overlook the ignorant request about making the already stationary sun stand still!
God does that for us too. He hears our hearts. He notes our needs. He doesn’t parse our words, scrutinize our vocabulary, and demand perfect grammar from us. To me, that is amazing. It is just another example of what a humble God He is. He attends to the flawed prayers of His frail children all because He loves us.
Next time you squint into the sun’s bright rays, remember how God hears and answers prayers…even the seemingly dumb ones!
Question: How has God shown you He hears your heart, instead of your words, in your prayers?
