I thought it was just because I was a classical voice teacher who, since I live in a rural county in the South, spent a lot of time on diction--clean enunciation, and particularly those wide Southern diphthongs. What is the point of singing if no one can understand the words? So I thought it was just because I was sensitive to it that I kept noticing that I could not understand the words in a lot of pop music. Finally, one day when the boys were playing a “Best Of…” tape in the car, I asked them, “Is he really saying ‘dancin’ in the fryin’ pan?’”
“No, mom. It’s dancin’ an’ prancin,’” accompanied by exaggerated eye rolls and head shakes as only teenagers can.
Recently I discovered a whole website devoted to “Misheard Lyrics.” I feel vindicated at last.
But pop music is not the problem. The singers are the problem. Most of us can tell stories of our children just beginning to sing our hymns and the often hilarious mistakes they make.
In the middle of the grocery store one morning, three year old Nathan said, “Sing the song about the sandals, mom.”
“Sandals? A church song?”
“Yes. All other ground is sinking sandals, other ground is sinking sand.”
Lucas at the same age asked his grandfather to sing the song about the peas. “He whispers sweet peas to me.” And a few months later I heard him singing, “When the roll is called under the water.”
Do you wonder if God has the same problem understanding our singing? Not as long as we sing and make melody with our hearts, Eph 5:19, rather than muttering half-memorized words on automatic pilot. What about our prayers?
Once in a women’s class, a dear friend was praying and had trouble with a certain phrase. No matter how she tried, it kept coming out backwards to what she intended. Finally she just said, “Lord, you know what I mean!”
Of course He does. Why was that such a revelation and comfort to me? Because we spend so much time legislating prayer, telling folks which person of the Godhead they can and cannot pray to, what things they can and cannot ask for, and what things they MUST say if they expect their prayer to get past the ceiling when the real problem is, we don’t pray enough. No wonder! Everyone’s afraid of doing it wrong. Just as the Pharisees made the Law of Moses a burden (Matt 23:4), we are making what should be one of our greatest comforts in this life, a burden instead.
Just pray! We have an intercessor, a mediator who is on our side and pleads our cases. He is not standing their just waiting to stamp my particular prayer, “Disqualified!” and send it back unheard. There are no misheard prayers in Heaven.
For there is one God, one mediator between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all…1 Tim 2:3.4a
And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Rom 8:27
These things says the Son of God…I am he who searches the reins and the hearts…Rev 2:18,23
Dene Ward
“No, mom. It’s dancin’ an’ prancin,’” accompanied by exaggerated eye rolls and head shakes as only teenagers can.
Recently I discovered a whole website devoted to “Misheard Lyrics.” I feel vindicated at last.
But pop music is not the problem. The singers are the problem. Most of us can tell stories of our children just beginning to sing our hymns and the often hilarious mistakes they make.
In the middle of the grocery store one morning, three year old Nathan said, “Sing the song about the sandals, mom.”
“Sandals? A church song?”
“Yes. All other ground is sinking sandals, other ground is sinking sand.”
Lucas at the same age asked his grandfather to sing the song about the peas. “He whispers sweet peas to me.” And a few months later I heard him singing, “When the roll is called under the water.”
Do you wonder if God has the same problem understanding our singing? Not as long as we sing and make melody with our hearts, Eph 5:19, rather than muttering half-memorized words on automatic pilot. What about our prayers?
Once in a women’s class, a dear friend was praying and had trouble with a certain phrase. No matter how she tried, it kept coming out backwards to what she intended. Finally she just said, “Lord, you know what I mean!”
Of course He does. Why was that such a revelation and comfort to me? Because we spend so much time legislating prayer, telling folks which person of the Godhead they can and cannot pray to, what things they can and cannot ask for, and what things they MUST say if they expect their prayer to get past the ceiling when the real problem is, we don’t pray enough. No wonder! Everyone’s afraid of doing it wrong. Just as the Pharisees made the Law of Moses a burden (Matt 23:4), we are making what should be one of our greatest comforts in this life, a burden instead.
Just pray! We have an intercessor, a mediator who is on our side and pleads our cases. He is not standing their just waiting to stamp my particular prayer, “Disqualified!” and send it back unheard. There are no misheard prayers in Heaven.
For there is one God, one mediator between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all…1 Tim 2:3.4a
And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Rom 8:27
These things says the Son of God…I am he who searches the reins and the hearts…Rev 2:18,23
Dene Ward
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