For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. – I Peter 3:12 NASB
Three boys are playing robustly in the house while their father was relaxing on the front porch, reared back in what was called his chair, peacefully enjoying a sunny day reading the daily afternoon paper. All of a sudden the three boys come racing out the front door, spoiling the sunshine and as we say, “raining on the father’s parade.” I guess the legal phrase would be “disturbing the peace.” The boys are talking loudly, all at the same time, and the father, unable to understand what either of them was saying, told them, “Wait a minute! Whether you or tattling or telling me something, I can only listen to you one at a time.” The father listens to all of them, one at a time, from the youngest to the oldest. Each one of them had their personal account of how a ceramic lamp got knock over and broken as they were playing. As you can imagine, there was a lot of finger pointing and plenty of levying blame on one another. The father, in a peaceful tone told them, “Whether you were tattling or telling, I have heard you all and I’m holding you all accountable.” You know what “accountable” meant back in the day don’t you. “Accountable” hurt, but it did help the children avoid the same mistake again.
I did not share this story with you to focus on consequences, but to point out that the Lord can hear all of us at the same time. His line is never busy, as the song says, and you can call Him up and tell Him what you want. That’s good because my prayer list, probably like yours, is growing everyday as I try to intercede for the sick, the suffering, the saddened and even just folks stuck at home with their minds focused on the uncertainty of the future events. Yet I’m glad that we can be certain for that unlike the father in the story, our Father which art in heaven, hears all our cries. Be comforted to know that your prayers are not dismissed, you will not be delayed by any need to get in line, your age will not distance you from speaking, and the Divine hears your cries! Yes He does! He will answer your prayers! So, even if our prayer lists are growing, know that God, sitting in the sunlight of Glory on His peaceful throne, He hears you! You might be tattling or telling, but He hears you! You may pray an intercessory prayer for others or pray inviting Him to give you strength through it all, but let me tell you, He hears you! My fellow believer, have a great Saturday and keep praying. If you cannot make it out to church and your church is not streaming, let me share that I will be preaching at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary where I pastor Sunday. You can tune in on Facebook at SALTOFTHEEARTH@sote.com. In advance I’ll tell you to have a great day tomorrow! Be blessed!
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. – I John 5:14 NASB
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King