God Hears Everything

Welcome. It's time for Our Daily Bread's Word of Encouragement. Our devotional writer for today is James Banks and the reading is God Hears Everything. One of the longest recorded postal delays in history lasted 89 years.

Originally mailed in 1919 to a former resident of her address. The note was placed in her mailbox via the royal mail, but the reason behind its long delay remains a mystery. Even the best human efforts at communication sometimes let us down. But scripture makes clear that God never fails to hear his faithful people. A striking contrast between the pagan god Baal and Jehovah God. In a showdown to demonstrate who the true God was, after Baal's prophets had prayed for hours, Elijah taunted them. Shout louder, surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling.

Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. Then, Elijah prayed for Jehovah to answer so that his people might return to faith and God's power was clearly displayed. While our prayers may not always be answered as immediately as Elijah's was, we can be assured that God hears them. The Bible reminds us in Revelation 5 that he treasures our prayers so much that he keeps them before him in golden bowls like precious incense.

God will answer every prayer in his own perfect wisdom and way. There are no lost letters in heaven. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading comes from 1 Kings chapter 18 verses 25 through 27 and verses 30 through 38. Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you.

Call on the name of your God, but do not light the fire. So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. Baal, answer us, they shouted. But there was no response.

No one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Shout louder, he said. Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling.

Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. And now verses 30 through 38. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come here to me. They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Your name shall be Israel. With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.

He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, Fill four large jars with water, and pour it on the offering and on the wood. Do it again, he said. And they did it again. Do it a third time, he ordered.

And they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. Let's pray. Father, thank you for always allowing us access to you and for assuring us that you actually want to hear our deepest concerns. And now for anyone who's listening who feels all alone, maybe they feel like you've abandoned them, God, or that they've done such terrible things that you no longer accept them. So, Jesus, please lift their eyes up so that they can see you and be reminded that you are there and that you do love them and that nothing can separate them from your love. Thank you, Father. It's in your name, Jesus, that we pray. Amen.