August 27th, Our Daily Bread

Is He Listening?

READ: Matthew 26:39-42; 27:45-46

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? —Matthew 27:46

Sometimes it feels as if God isn’t listening to me.” Those words, from a woman who tried to stay strong in her walk with God while coping with an alcoholic husband, echo the heartcry of many believers. For 18 years, she asked God to change her husband. Yet it never happened.

What are we to think when we repeatedly ask God for something good—something that could easily glorify Him—but the answer doesn’t come? Is He listening or not?

Let’s look at the life of the Savior. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He agonized for hours in prayer, pouring out His heart and pleading, “Let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). But the Father’s answer was clearly “No.” To provide salvation, God had to send Jesus to die on the cross. Even though Jesus felt as if His Father had forsaken Him, He prayed intensely and passionately because He trusted that God was listening.

When we pray, we may not see how God is working or understand how He will bring good through it all. So we have to trust Him. We relinquish our rights and let God do what is best.

We must leave the unknowable to the all-knowing One. He is listening and working things out His way. —Dave Branon

Not ours to know the reason why
Unanswered is our prayer,
But ours to wait for God’s own time
To lift the cross we bear. —Anon.

When we bend our knees to pray, God bends His ear to listen.
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When I read the above today (thanks Dad for reminding me to read it today), I immediately thanked God. I hate it, but we need to remember that when we feel God isn't listening to us or our prayers, even if they seem Godly, and would glorify Him, somtimes His answer is "No". We may not know why, but He does, and He has a purpose. Maybe it's simply to keep us on our knees prostrate before Him, so we keep coming to Him? To help us realize that we don't have this life figured out, and cannot do it all on our own? To show us that even though we are followers of Christ, we're still in a fallen world, and bad things happen for good reasons? Whatever the reason, thank you Father, for today's Daily Bread. I needed to hear it again. Today's message is being stored for later reading when I need to hear it once more. I pray you all have a blessed day! Today we're going to go swimming, and then go witness baptisms of some members of our church! Let the glory rain down!

Peace and love,
E