Romans 8:15
New babies know how to squall! When they want something they fill up their little lungs, open up their mouths and
let you know they want attention. It could be that they are hungry, need changed, or aren’t feeling well. But they may just want picked up and cuddled, or carried around to see what’s going on. Of course, when the little one squalls, there is a great rush to find out what it is that needs attention. It is truly wonderful that God made infants with this capacity to communicate when they want something.
Perhaps we Christians don’t get enough response from God because we don’t “squall” enough. Even a brief look in a concordance under the word “cry” yields numerous references (especially in the psalms and the prophets) of crying to God in times of distress and trouble. “Crying aloud” and “crying out” are phrases also used. Even Jesus “offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears” (Hebrews 5:7).
The Bible teaches that Christians are children of God and that the kingdom of heaven is open only to little children (Matthew 19:13-14). Maybe this is the root of our failures in prayer - we do not cry out to God because we do not consider ourselves as His little children. Are we too adult? Too sophisticated? Too grown-up? Too proud? Are we too embarrassed (even in private) to get down on the floor and beat the carpet with our fists and cry out to God?
Maybe we have lost our faith, and prayer to our Father is nothing more than a church event and meal-time ritual. Maybe we have lost our zeal, and nothing matters deeply to us anymore whether it be sin, the kingdom, the needs of others, the salvation of the lost, the glory of Christ, etc.
The Holy Spirit presents an insightful thought for us: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba!, Father!’” Have you done any “squalling” lately?