Not a Word

vaD pa' ghaH ghobe' a mu' Daq wIj jat, 'ach, yIlegh, joH'a', SoH Sov 'oH altogether.
For there is not a word on my tongue, But, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. Psalm 139:4

(click for podcast version)

This verse is, to me, very good news, for it assures me that I can be completely honest with God. We should not fear to express our inmost feelings in our prayers. Our calling on Him need not be restrained - for he KNOWS, as the NLT puts it:

You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, LORD.

What does this have to do with prayer? It reflects what Jesus had to say, as he was about to present what we call "the Lord's prayer"

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:7,8 NLT).

Now, note - this didn't mean "don't pray," but rather pray meaningfully - and the example is, of course, "the Lord's prayer," perhaps the perfect model for our prayers. We pray, because we must - we can't help ourselves. And we can be confident to be heard - as Jesus says "Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs" (Matt. 6:32 NLT)

And, I was happy to see that it wasn't too hard to reuse the vocabularly of the KLV to make a more proper Klingon translation - here's an attempt anyway:

"vaj jatwIjDaq mu' pawbe' 'ej yIlegh! joH'a', Hoch DaSovqu'neS"

A: vaj: so/then/thus/in that case

N: jatwIjDaq: in my tongue

N: mu': word

V: pawbe': not arrive

&: 'ej: and

V: yIlegh: you(imp:sg/pl) see (no.object)/him/her/it

N: joH'a': God

N: Hoch: everyone, all, everything

V: DaSovqu'neS: you honorific really know him/her/it/them

"vaj jatwIjDaq mu' pawbe' 'ej yIlegh! joH'a', Hoch DaSovqu'neS"


Do you hesitate to call on God in prayer - don't. He won't be surprised - he can't be shocked. And he's ready to answer.