9202. 'And if he surely cries out to Me' means pleading to the Lord for help. This is clear without explanation. The reason why 'crying out' is used in the Word to express pleading intensely is that the pleas, even if they are silent, of those whose pleading springs from the heart are heard in heaven as a cry. This happens when people are only thinking, and more so when they breathe a heartfelt sigh. This reality was represented in the representative Church by a crying out, which then came to be a ritual observance among the Jews. The situation is similar with teachers. If they teach from the heart they are heard in heaven as people crying out. Not only thoughts speak in heaven, but more especially affections for what is good and true. I have been led to know from experience that affections speak there, and that if they are fervent they cry out; this however is something which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with elsewhere. But affections for what is evil and false are not heard at all in heaven, even though a person may be moved by them to plead and cry out at the top of his voice, while at the same time he presses the palms of his hands tightly together, and raises them together with his eyes towards heaven. Those affections are heard in hell, and also as cries if they are fervent.

These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them. A "path" is something different, suitable only for walking or maybe bicycles, and a "way" has more to do with giving directions than any physical reality. When we get "lost" it usually means we're in a car on an unfamiliar road -- a far cry from being in the middle of a trackless wilderness with no idea which direction to go. The ancient world was very different, with isolated towns and endless square miles of trackless wilderness. Then a "way" was a set of landmarks to follow to get from one place to another through the wilderness. A "path" was a way used enough to leave a visible trace on the ground, and a "road" was a heavily used path, easily followed and walkable. So it makes sense that when used in the Bible, all three terms represent guiding truth, ideas that lead us where we want to go. This is pictured in the modern use of "way" -- when we talk about the "way" to do something or the "way" to get somewhere. We're talking about the correct, best, most efficient method of doing something or getting somewhere. And it's good information -- truth -- that helps us find that best way.