Does God hear me when I pray?

March 31, 2014: Does God hear me when I pray? Please SHARE this new Precious Prodigal Post: http://bit.ly/1mGgN81

2 Kings 19:20 "That which thou hast prayed to me...I have heard."

Do you ever feel like the Heavens are brass, and your prayers aren’t getting farther than the ceiling? I know I do. It’s easy to become discouraged when you’ve prayed for years without seeing the answer you are seeking from the Lord. It may be the prodigal you love and who is still out there destroying his life, or it could be the prayer for healing or a host of other needs.

Regardless of the need, when the answer is delayed, we might begin to wonder whether God even hears our prayers or cares that we are hurting. That’s especially true when it seems that, in spite of our prayers, things have gone from bad to worse and then to desperate.

Hezekiah was beyond being worried and was as desperate as he could possibly be. When he received the first letter from the Assyrian king, he had humbled himself, put on sackcloth, and gone to the house of God to pray. He even sent a message to Isaiah asking him to pray. Yet, God did not immediately answer those prayers.

Now there’s a second letter from the Assyrian king, and it’s more threatening and arrogant than the first one. Although Hezekiah immediately took it to the Lord, I have to wonder what he was thinking. He might have been wondering why God hadn’t already done something.

The fact that he told the Lord, “Of a truth,” the Assyrians had conquered all the nations around Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:17) tells me he was at least in part looking at the size of his problem rather than the size of his God. Yet still he believed and said that God could bring victory.

Even as Hezekiah prayed, word came to him from Isaiah: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me…I have heard.” (2 Kings 19:20) God had heard Hezekiah’s prayer, and the God who heard his prayer is no respecter of persons. If He heard Hezekiah’s prayer, He also hears your prayers and mine.

What precious words are these? In the midst of my trial, God is listening. In my hopeless estate, God hears. When there seems to be no answer, when there seems to be no possible way, God stands ready to “ incline his ear unto me…” (Psalm 116:2)

The picture here is of our mighty God, the great Creator God, who spoke the worlds into existence, who said, “Let there be light” and there was, and who cannot and will not fail. That God leans over and turns His ear to clearly hear. Oh precious thought! Oh blessed hope! Oh sweet assurance! Even when the Heavens feel like brass, God hears my prayers.

You and I may not understand why the answer is delayed or even why the answer is sometimes, “No.” But we can be confident it’s not because God is deaf to our prayers. He hears every desperate, whispered prayer and sees every tear we’ve shed over that person, that problem, that situation, whatever it is. He sees, He knows, He cares. And on the authority of 2 Kings 19:20, I can tell you He hears.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, rest in the assurance that God hears your prayers and will answer in His time and in a way that will be for your good and His glory?