My birthday was a blast – literally – a few years ago. Only twenty-four hours before the actual day, I was canning green beans in my kitchen and had just walked into the living room when my canner blew up, shooting slivers of glass and green beans throughout my kitchen and destroying the entire room.
Everything – ceiling, walls, floor, cabinets, appliances – had to be replaced. The destruction caused by the explosion was unbelievable but I had no idea how much interest it would also create until two weeks later.
I was sitting in a crowded restaurant, waiting on my daughter, when an elderly lady and her husband – who was hard of hearing – saw me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hit his arm and point at me as she said “See that blonde lady over there?” He replied “Huh?” and she repeated, more loudly, “I said, do you see that blonde lady over there?” By this time, everyone in the restaurant saw “that blonde lady over there.”
He said “Yes, I see her. Why?” His wife replied, “She is the woman we heard about who blew up her kitchen!” He cupped his hand around his ear and replied “Huh?” His wife leaned over to him and yelled: “She . . . is . . . the . . . one . . . who . . . blew . . . up . . . her . . . kitchen!” “What did she blow it up with?” “A canner,” the woman answered. His instant look of shock was followed by this response: “A cannon? Where did she get a cannon?” I decided it would be best at that point to leave quietly.
I am amazed today as I think of the Lord and His ability to hear us when we call out to Him. He never asks us to repeat a prayer request. Not once has God answered with a “Huh?” when we have gone before Him. If we are unsure of exactly what we want to say, He doesn’t get confused by our words. He even says in Romans 8:26 that He allows the Spirit to go before Him on our behalf when words fail us.
Have you ever felt like nobody truly listens to you when your heart is aching? Jesus listens. Do you ever wonder if your prayers are eloquent enough or perfect enough for our Father? He does not care about that at all.
We can have confidence in knowing that when we go before our Father, He hears our every word and every cry and even loves us enough to allow the Spirit to speak on our behalf when words fail us. He truly is the One who hears it all.
Father, thank you that I can come before you in all my weakness and imperfection and yet you hear my prayers and understand. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
R.A.P. it up . . .
Reflect
Have you ever felt like you needed to have a “perfect prayer” for God to hear you?
If so, why do you think you have felt that way?
Apply
Journal the different Scriptures in which God states that He hears your prayers.
When you pray, thank the Lord for his open ears to your requests before you share them with Him.
Power
Psalm 66:19-20 (NIV) “ . . . God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”
Romans 8:26 (NIV) “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
I John 5:14 (NIV) “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)
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