Blog By Polly Boyette
I had a meeting in Portsmouth, VA, my old stomping grounds, a while back and I decided afterwards to stop into one of my favorite little restaurants, Johnson’s Hotdogs. They sell the best hotdogs around. I don’t know what it is about them, but no other hotdog tastes like a Johnson’s hotdog. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Johnson’s is just a small little eatery, nothing fancy at all, but it’s always busy no matter what time of day you stop by. Now that I live in Virginia Beach I don’t get to eat there very often. So it was a real treat for me.
My sister, Robbie and I walked into the crowded restaurant and grabbed a seat at the counter. It was very busy as usual, so we were happy to just find a seat. The place hadn’t changed much. There was very little décor, just good food and fast service.
“Can I help you?” asked the waitress.
“Yes,” I said. “I’d like two hotdogs with mustard, onions, chili and mustard.”
“So you want extra mustard?” she asked.
“No, sorry,” I said. “I want mustard, onions chili and onions.”
“So you want extra onions?” she asked.
I was very confused. For some reason, I always think I order four toppings for my hotdog. So I kept repeating one of the toppings to the waitress.
“I’d like two hotdogs with chili, mustard, onions and chili,” I answered.
The waitress just stared at me like I had lost my mind, and apparently, I had.
Finally she just turned away from me and yelled to the cook, “Two hotdogs all the way!”
She turned and looked at me as if to say, “That’s it! You don’t get another chance.”
“Yes,” I muttered to myself. “That’s exactly what I want, two all the way. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Luckily, the waitress knew exactly what I wanted and was able to translate for me to the cook.
When it was Robbie’s turn she just smiled and said proudly, “Two hotdogs all the way, please.”
The waitress looked over at me like, “Finally, intelligent life.”
Isn’t it funny how we think sometimes that we are saying the right thing, but we can’t actually hear or understand that we have it wrong or we can’t find the right words for what we want.
Sometimes when we pray we think we know what we want to pray about or ask for, but we’re not sure. We’re afraid we might ask for the wrong thing or that God might misinterpret what we’re praying. Fortunately, He always knows what we mean, even when we don’t. He can look at our heart and know our desires and needs.
Even when we don’t know what to pray or we can’t find the right words to express ourselves, the Holy Spirit steps in on our behalf and prays for us. It’s like we’re saying, “I want two hotdogs with mustard, chili, onions and mustard and chili …” And the Holy Spirit tells the Lord, “She wants two all the way!”
“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:26-28 (MSG)
Isn’t it good to know when life throws something unexpected at us, or we can’t find the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us? He can take care of it for us by making prayer out of our wordless sighs and groans. I’m so glad He knows me better than I know myself. This New Year, determine more than ever to trust the Holy Spirit with your prayers. Sometimes all you need is just “two all the way.”