The God who listens (contd)
Meditation 5: The God whose answer is so sure we can pray expectantly
Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
What is wonderful about this attribute:
After David’s final “product” was produced and sent off to heaven, still the prayer was not over. He didn’t say “amen” and then get up and go about his day. Like an archer who shoots and then watches to see where his arrow goes, David offered his prayer to God and then looked up. David offered prayers in the morning – the first priority of the day before anything else; and then he watched eagerly for a response… in the morning! He didn’t wait a year or a month for an answer; he didn’t even wait until noon. He looked for an immediate response.
If you send a letter to a friend overseas in the morning it would be silly to check your mailbox for a reply that same day.
But the Lord so eagerly listens to the prayers of His saints and is so eager to respond that it is appropriate to look to heaven for an
immediate response.
There is a kind of omnipotence in prayer. Prayer has broken literal iron chains, opened prison doors, destroyed entire armies, stopped the sun, raised the dead, and brought wretched, rebellious sinners to love God. It is the slender nerve that moves the mighty muscle of omnipotence.
What an unspeakable gift, dear Lord, that You have given us prayer. Teach me to treasure it more. Teach me to treasure being listened to carefully by You.
What effect would it have on your heart if you were to consciously experience God’s eagerness to answer prayer today?
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Experiencing this attribute:
Pray expectantly. And when there is not an immediate response, wait – like a little child looking out the window waiting for grandma and grandpa to arrive.
Prayer should be a two-way interaction. Don’t be like a man who makes a speech to his wife and then walks away from her without even looking at her face to see her response. When you pray, speak and then look. Pray in a posture of eager, expectant watching and waiting for God’s response.
If we do not believe God will respond, why do we pray? And if we do believe, why do we not sit in earnest, eager expectation after we have prayed? If we speak words to God but then do not look to Him for a response, is that not close to taking His name in vain?
For many this will require significant changes in the kinds of things they ask for in prayer. Some of us rarely pray for anything that could be granted immediately (except in times of intense pain or sorrow over sin when they ask for relief or forgiveness).
The psalmists frequently prayed for things that could be immediately granted, such as having their eyes opened to see the beauty of God’s glory, or strength or insight or joy or nearness to the presence of God or a sense of safety and security. All too often we fail to ask for such things, or we ask and do not even expect a specific answer, or we ask and get what we requested and it does not even occur to us that it was because of the prayer.
This is not to say it is wrong to pray for long term requests. That is also appropriate. But even then we can pray expectantly. If we have really prayed for the deep desires of our hearts, and we truly believe God responds to prayer, we should be like the kid who goes out every morning, first thing, and looks to see if the seed he planted is poking up above the soil yet. Or like one who checks his email every few minutes to see if a response has come.
Think: What do you think the Lord would have you ask of Him that He is likely to grant right now?
Promise to trust today:
Isaiah 58:8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Write your own prayer:
