God knows your name

Just came back from posting a letter to our sponsored child. His name is Jonny. Or Jony. When we first had his details it was spelt Jony. But he sometimes spelt it Jonny. Then Compassion changed their details to Jonny. So I'm guessing it is Jonny. But because we got used to Jony, I still say Jony, not Jonny (getting dizzy yet?) When we pray for him, we usually pronounce it Jony. Thankfully God knows both which it is, and who we mean. He knows all about this little boy in Columbia - his hurts, his dreams, his fears. He hears his prayers - and Jonny prays for us just as we pray for him. And God knows his name.

Often we feel our prayers are clumsy and we don't have all the information about certain situations, or people. But we can lift them to God knowing that he is utterly aware of all of it. He knows them better than they know themselves. So I must never not pray because I don't know what to pray for precisely. God, I don't understand this, or know what the real needs are. But here I lift this person / this place / this situation and place it into your big hands. Hands big enough to hold the heaviest burden, and tender enough to carry the smallest hurts without them slipping through your fingers.