October 27, 2021 8:00 pm
When I served on my church’s congregational care team, one of my duties was to pray over the requests penciled on pew cards during the services. For an aunt’s health. For a couple’s finances. For a grandson’s discovery of God. Rarely did I hear the results of these prayers. Most were anonymous and I had no way of knowing how God had responded. I confess that at times I wondered, was He really listening? Was anything happening as a result of my prayers?
Over our lifetimes, most of us question, “Does God hear me?” I remember my own Hannah-like pleas for a child that went unanswered for years. And there were my pleas that my father find faith, yet he died without any apparent confession.
Etched across the millennia are myriad instances of God’s ear bending to listen: to Israel’s groans under slavery (Exodus 2:24); to Moses on Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:19); to Joshua at Gilgal (Joshua 10:14); to Hannah’s prayers for a child (1 Samuel 1:10–17;) to David crying out for deliverance from Saul (2 Samuel 22:7).
First John 5:14 crescendos, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” The word for “hears” means to pay attention and to respond on the basis of having heard.
As we go to God today, may we have the confidence of His listening ear spanning the history of His people. He hears our pleas.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
A New Beginning
Greg Laurie
Our American Stories
Lee Habeeb
Amy Lawrence Show
Amy Lawrence
Family Life Today
Dave & Ann Wilson, Bob Lepine
Truth for Life
Alistair Begg
Family Life Today
Dave & Ann Wilson, Bob Lepine
Is God Listening? That's the title of today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional.
I'm Elisa Morgan. When I served on my church's congregational care team, one of my duties was to pray over the requests penciled on pew cards during the services—for an aunt's health, for a couple's finances, for a grandson's discovery of God. Rarely did I hear the results of these prayers. Most were anonymous, and I had no way of knowing how God had responded. I confess that at times I wondered, was He really listening? Was anything happening as a result of my prayers? Over our lifetimes, most of us question, Does God hear me? I remember my own Hannah-like pleas for a child that went unanswered for years. And there were my pleas that my father find faith.
Yet he died without any apparent confession. Etched across the millennia are myriad instances of God's ear bending to listen. To Israel's groans under slavery. To Moses on Mount Sinai. To Joshua at Gilgal. To Hannah's prayers for a child. To David crying out for deliverance from Saul. 1 John 5, verse 14 crescendos. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
The word for hears means to pay attention and to respond on the basis of having heard. As we go to God today, may we have the confidence of His listening ears spanning the history of His people. He hears our pleas.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 1 John 5, verses 13-15. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of Him. Let's pray. Father, thank You that You are a hearing God, that when we speak, You listen, that You carry our request close to Your heart. May we trust You to respond according to Your perfect desires. In Your name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-07-30 11:44:38 / 2023-07-30 11:46:00 / 1