“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12b

When my kids were much younger I found myself repeating myself a lot. This isn’t uncommon with young kids, of course, but the situation quickly became frustrating for everyone. Mom constantly saying the same thing over and over and kids being nagged about the same thing over and over…it got pretty ridiculous pretty fast! Where was the breakdown of communication happening?

It wasn’t the ears. It was the EYES.

Their ears worked just fine, but I quickly learned that when I had something important to say to them I needed the attention of their eyes first.

The solution? I would give them a light touch on the shoulder or face and say, “Look at my eyes.”

When their eyes were on mine I could say what I needed to say, then I would ask them to repeat it. When they could say my words back to me I knew that whatever I’d said had sunk in, and we could move on with our day.

Eyes make a good listener.

King Jehoshaphat knew as much when he led his people in prayer. “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Just as a child can look to a parent for guidance, so can we look to God, even and especially when we don’t know what to do. It doesn’t matter that we have no clue what to do next, only that we turned to the One who does.

We often approach God with mouths already running with a list of wants and demands, but telling God what to do shouldn’t be the goal! It’s more about listening to God so we can do whatever HE wants us to do, and that involves our attention. It requires our eyes.

God-listening involves so much: silence and petition, lament and  ::deep breath::  surrender. My kids have had to learn to surrender their attention. They have to make a choice to move their eyes from whatever they’re doing in the moment to my eyes and focus on what I’m saying. May it be so with us and God!

When we pray, we think of using primarily our mouths and maybe our ears, but are you using your eyes when you talk with Him? Let’s start this day by praying together. Good morning, Good Father! “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”