Can You Hear Me?
Everyone wants to be heard. When you have an opinion on something, you want to be heard. When you talk about something that interests you, you want to be heard. When you are sharing your struggles and need some support, you want to be heard. The point is we all want to be heard for various reasons.
As Christians, it is our hope that this secular culture would hear the words of God's truth. That is why I think it is so important to prioritize the truth of scripture in our lives. This is one of the reasons that this ministry exists, to equip Christians to live boldly for Christ. We are to be people of the truth and I want to provide resources to help you live by the truth.
Last week as I was planning my next video to do just that, I encountered some technical issues with the microphone I use to record videos. It's a little bit of a problem if I make a video and I can't be clearly heard. I already have limited ability to speak loudly because of my compromised respiratory system as a result of my disability so a good microphone is a must.
What happened was that the software that controls the microphone had an update and afterwards it would not connect. That made the microphone unusable and, after much troubleshooting, I decided to be done with it and order a new microphone. So, I got the new microphone, and it wouldn't work either. Go figure! After assuming it was a software issue, it turns out that the USB port I was using for some reason quit working. Needless to say, I was unable to release a video last week because, with the issues I was having, you would not have heard what I had to say. I'm still adjusting the new microphone so it sounds good, so, until I can release a video later this week, this gives me an opportunity to write a new blog post.
This whole situation got me thinking about how great it is that God hears us. Although the world might not want to hear what we have to say, the good news is that God is always there to hear us. Whenever we are struggling or just need help, comfort, or guidance, God's word assures us that He is there ready to listen to us. Check out the following verse:
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. – 1 John 5:14–15
This shows us that we can have confidence in the fact that God hears us. This verse also mentions that this confidence is based on the things that we ask according to His will. Our prayers should never be focused on our will, but on the will of God. That doesn't mean our prayers cannot include personal requests or even our desires. What this does mean is that in all of those requests, we must acknowledge that they should be fulfilled in accordance with God's will instead of our own. God has a perfect plan and we must trust that His plan is better than our plans. Some of our requests are for things that we would plan for ourselves, but we must humbly recognize that, in His infinite wisdom, His plan and the answer He gives to our prayers is what is best for us. In this way, prayer is a way to align our lives with the will of God. When we view prayer from this perspective, that is when we can have true confidence in the fact that He hears us and will answer our requests.
The idea of humbling ourselves in prayer is nothing new. God told the Israelites something very similar after Solomon completed the temple. He told Solomon that when bad things happen to His people as a result of their sin, He would forgive them if they humble themselves in prayer.
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14
This is the mindset that God asks of us when we pray. We are to humble ourselves and seek the face of God in our prayers. It is not about pleasing ourselves, it is about turning from our sin and doing what pleases God. That is when God hears us and will forgive our sins. Coming to God humbly in prayer can bring spiritual healing and set us on a right track before God. Again, we see that prayer is something that helps us follow God's will for our lives.
It is great to see that when we are trying to do God's will He hears our prayers. It is amazing that we can come before the creator of the universe and that He still takes time to hear our prayers. God loves and cares for His people so much that He not only hears our prayers, He answers them. We see many more examples of the way God hears us from the book of Psalms.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. – Psalm 145:18
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. – Psalm 34:15
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. – Psalm 18:6
Look at how God is near us. Be aware of the fact that the eyes of the Lord are toward us and that His ears hear us. Whenever we are distressed He is the one that we should go to for help. Even though He is so much greater than us He still hears our prayers. This should be encouraging for every believer.
Be encouraged to live for the Lord and follow His will. Be encouraged to approach the Lord in humbleness and know that He always hears us. Even though the world doesn't listen to us. Even though there was no way you could hear me with my microphone issues. Even though it is hard to get anyone to really hear us, we can know that God will always be there to hear us.
