Have you ever noticed that the words you speak or sing seem to reach Heaven differently than the words you only think or write?

For most of my life, I’ve prayed quietly — journaling, whispering, or sometimes just thinking the words. I believed He heard me, and He did. How do I know? His Word tells me God heard Hannah without a sound.

October 2023, something shifted. My husband and I were returning from Italy, delayed and running late for our flight out of JFK Terminal 4. His boarding pass had TSA pre-check; mine didn’t. Long story short, my only option was to get a new ticket with my TSA pre-check status on it. That didn’t work either. The answer when I asked the Delta employee, “what can I do?” Returned a flippant comment. She pointed to a petite Muslim lady and said, “ you can pray she can help you.”

Okay. No problem. Praying is one of my love languages and a battle cry!

There is an entire miracle story to be told about JFK Terminal 4 and me singing the bridge to Gratitude as I ran up two flights of stairs.

I am someone who has sang karaoke exactly twice, both with large groups of friends. I have one friend who loves to hear me sing “off key and often”. I had been told for 55 years I could NOT sing!

There I was in JFK Terminal 4, singing out loud— bold, breathless, free — with less than a minute to spare when I reached the gate.

By the time we arrived home, something had changed.

My voice — the one that had never been strong or clear — was suddenly different. Since that day, it’s as if the Holy Spirit Himself tuned it. What began as a song of desperation became a sound of deliverance. I call that my paraclete moment — because I didn’t need a pair of cleats. I had the Paraclete (John 14:26), the Holy Spirit running beside me.

Over the months that followed, especially beginning in November 2023, the singing came more often. In my isolation — where He always meets me — the same song would rise up, only now, it was peaceful. I could listen without wincing.

I could sense God is delighted when praise bursts forth into song.

🎵 The Breath and the Word

In Hebrew, voice is qol (קוֹל) — meaning sound, thunder, or utterance. It’s connected to ruach (רוּח) — breath, spirit, wind.

When we speak or sing, we release that breath into the atmosphere. We partner with the same creative energy that began the world:

Every word we voice becomes vibration — moving through air, through Spirit. That’s why Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

And Isaiah 55:11 promises

Zephaniah 3:17 shows us that He Himself sings!

The Many Ways He Hears

Whether silent like Hannah, whispered in prayer, or shouted on the stairs of an airport — God hears it all.

Some of us write our prayers. Some of us weep them. Some of us finally sing them.

The method isn’t the miracle — the obedience is.

Writing roots the Word deep.

Speaking releases it into the air.

Singing lifts it to Heaven.

Where might God want to give you a new sound — not for perfection, but for connection?

If He met you in silence today, would you trust that He could meet you in song tomorrow?

May you find courage to lift your voice, however it sounds, and discover that He already tuned it for praise. Praise is a phenomenal weapon! Armor up!

Thank you, Jesus!