Most of us would agree that God hears the language we use to pray, no matter what it is. It doesn’t have to be in Latin, or English, or whatever language we happen to have grown up hearing. And it doesn’t have to be the prescribed words we see written on a page. It just has to come from our heart and make us feel closer to God.
God understands all languages. Indeed, no one is more multi-lingual than God. The Holy Spirit translates our prayers into the language of heaven. Our heavenly Father hears all of us when we speak to Him from our innermost being.
And why wouldn’t it be the same with our praise language? When we praise God with our voices in song, won’t the musical language from us sound different? Depending on our culture and background, certain kinds of music draw us closer to God more than others. But surely, God is just listening for those feelings behind our praise songs. Our music, too, must come from the heart.
The Psalms are a collection of songs in the Bible that are highly emotional, with the same words often repeated many times. And yet, music in some churches is criticized for doing the same thing.
Here’s the truth that we sometimes fail to recognize. Just like the language spoken in heaven is no doubt different from any here on earth, the music played in heaven far surpasses anything we might offer to God in our churches today. No music from us can match the sounds of music coming from the angels in heaven.
So, once again, God is merely hoping that our music makes us feel closer to Him. And who are we to judge what kind of music that is. It will vary from one person to the next, just like our spoken language does.
Let’s not let a simple thing like music or language separate us as Christians. If God overlooks our differences, perhaps so should we.
