Have you ever wondered if God hears your prayers? Jesus did, too.
He hung on the cross for approximately 6 hours, and finally cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” There have been many times that I, too, wanted to ask, “God, are you there?”
I recently had a lengthy discussion with a very dear friend, who, like me, has been asking God for direction of where He wants our service. We’ve each been praying that for about a year. In our conversation my friend told me of a time he had asked God for help in making a decision about his job: should he leave it for another, very lucrative position, or stay in it, while around him his cohorts were being furloughed? He said, ” I know what I wanted God to say” (we laughed at that), and time for a decision was running out. He finally decided that well, God hadn’t said “No”, so he made a choice. It turned out to have been a bad decision.
Lesson learned? Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…”; Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.” And the best admonition: Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” He’ll handle it, ok?
Those are certainly spiritually encouraging words, but they don’t address the question, does God HEAR our prayers? Let’s first take a look at what the Bible tells us about praying: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Pray without ceasing; Philippians 4:6, Pray about everything; Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion; Luke 18:1, …always pray and never give up; and there are many, many other scriptures that instruct us to pray. That being the case then it’s obvious God does want us to talk with Him, to seek Him out.
One of my favorite verses explains WHY we pray: Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” What a confidence-building scripture; what a calm and peace it brings, knowing He will direct us. Note, however, the requirements:
1. Trust, with all your heart (no wavering) 2. Wait, and don’t try to figure things out on your own. 3. In EVERYTHING acknowledge Him. That means everything – good or bad. God is God and we are not, so accept that and let Him do His thing. We aren’t to question why He answered the way He did, but instead ask how can I use His answer to bring Him glory; to further the Good News? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, GIVE THANKS in all circumstances.” Every supplication should end with Thank You, for what He HAS done, and for what He’s GOING to do.
The question remains: does he HEAR our prayers? Is something in the way? Isaiah 59:2, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear.” Aha. So, my prayers should early on contain confession of my sins so there is nothing in the way. What else? James 4:3, “You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Are we asking for our benefit? Will what we are asking for bring Him glory? So, you can bet if it is not His will, or goes against it, you won’t get an answer.
You recall at the beginning of this lesson I said that both my friend and I have been praying for a year or more, and still await an answer…. Proverbs 15:29, “God HEARS the prayers of the righteous…” Isaiah 65: 24, “Even before they call, I will answer, while they are speaking, I will HEAR them.” Yes, God HEARS the prayers of His children, His saints, so keep praying.
Here’s the hard part: waiting. Sometimes I, too, want to ask: My God, My God, are your hearing me? As seen in the previous scriptures we know He heard our request, and He’s aware what time it is. But He does things in His way, in His time, and He doesn’t need us pestering Him about ‘the deadline’.
The answer: Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall find new strength; they will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow tired; they will walk and not grow weak.” Waiting on Him to provide an answer will always result in the BEST solution, the BEST answer, and His way will be just plain wondrous.
We CAN TRUST our God does hear our prayers.
A final thought: when Christ “cried out” to God, His answer came rather quickly.
How PASSIONATELY are we praying? Are we really, really wanting to know what God has in store? Or, are we comfortable where we are? My advice? As long as there is one person who hasn’t heard the Good News, we should not be comfortable.
What if that one person was a loved one?
In His service, and yours,
Mike Jared
TCM board member
The Conversation
Good word Mike!