God’s Listening Ear
God’s words are precious to us, as we discovered yesterday, but here’s another amazing thing about God: He listens.
We read “But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.” (Luke 1:13 NIV11) God listened! God isn’t ignoring you.
People pray for all sorts of things at Christmas time.
I’m sure you’ve heard the story about the two boys spending the night at their grandparents place the week before Christmas. At bedtime, the two brothers knelt beside their bed to pray, and the youngest one began yelling his prayers as loudly as he could. “LORD, PLEASE GIVE A NEW BICYCLE! I PRAY FOR A NEW IPHONE! PLEASE GOD, A PLAYSTATION 4!” His brother nudged him and said “What are you doing? You don’t have to shout your prayers, God isn’t deaf.” The younger brother says “I know, but Grandma is!”
What are you praying for this Christmas I wonder? New stuff, new toys maybe?
God Hears: Finding Hope in Prayer's Persistence
But maybe you’re praying for your children. For them to thrive, and be kept safe, and for them to come God. Maybe you’re praying for your family’s struggles – financial, emotional, spiritual, etc. Maybe you’re praying for some sort of breakthrough in your life. Some sort of help from God.
Take heart today. God hears the prayers of his faithful ones.
In fact I love how David would pray, and trust God to hear his prayers. Listen to this in Psalm 6, David is struggling, in a dark place but he says this: “I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.” (Psalm 6:6–9 NIV11)
I can picture Zechariah and Elizabeth, worn out from their groaning prayers. Longing for a child! But never conceiving. Praying and praying, weeping and drenching their home with tears.
But God heard their prayers. Once again it was in his time that he chose to answer those prayers, but he was listening the whole time.
Embrace the Gift of Prayer: A Meaningful Christmas
I wonder how many of us stop praying because we don’t really think God cares. Or we think – eh, he knows what I need. Why pray? And so our prayer life kind of crashes into the ground, we say short prayers maybe before meals as a formality, but we never really spend time on our knees in God’s presence.
God listens when we pray. God longs for a relationship with us. And one thing that ANY relationship needs in order to survive is communication. Talking and listening.
Have faith this Christmas, that God is listening intently when you come to him in prayer. And so pray! How about this: have a prayerful Christmas. The most prayerful Christmas you can remember having, praying in deep faith that your prayers never go unheard, praying in deep faith that God will answer at the perfect time.
That will make it a special Christmas.
