Praying To The God Who Cares And Even Bends Down To Hear Every Word We Say

We are in the early days of a new month, 2^nd month of this calendar year but the 11^th month that we have been taking a few moments each day to look at a few words from the Bible and then pray with those words to our loving Heavenly Father.  Why do we do that – beyond the fact that we are desperate for help in an overwhelming time of pandemic uncertainty?  Here’s why:

I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.  Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath.  Psalm 116:1-2

Lord, what comfort it gives us today to know that You hear us when we pray, even when we’re calling out for mercy we don’t deserve.  You’re not waiting for us to shout out at You from a distance, but when we even hardly have the strength to come to You, You bend down to listen so all our words are heard.  What love.  What tenderness.  What attentiveness.  We love You Lord, and we thank You for loving us with such kindness.  Amen

Now thankfully, God doesn’t just hear our prayers and pat us on the head and say, “There there, now. Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.”  When there is a valid issue, God is going to do something about it on our behalf.  How do I know? 

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17-18

God isn’t just close and comforting.  God is full of power and action as He responds to our brokenhearted cries.

Lord we appreciate the assurance that You not only hear us but You also deliver us from all our troubles.  Our problem so often Lord is that it’s so easy to get in the habit of trying to tell You what to do and how to do it.  Help us to rest in Your promise to deliver us even when we feel like it’s hopeless and we can’t go on because our hearts are broken and our spirits are crushed.  You certainly know more than we do, and Your heart is always to do the right thing for us at the right time – even when we think You are doing it wrong and not doing it at the right time.  Give us patience and trust to cry out to you, give our deepest longings and most painful issues to You in prayer and then leave things in Your loving hands.  Amen

Now folks, I know the things that are painful to me and lay heavy on my heart.  It’s one thing to know God cares.  It’s another thing to actually bring those painful heavy things to Him.  Do that either now or at some point before you turn away to some other agenda today.  Actually invite God in and give Him a chance to bring hope or healing or restoration.  Give Him a chance on the easy stuff if your faith seems small or jump right in with what seems like impossible to you.  God’s good to respond to all of it.

We’ll end today with the need for us to humble ourselves, repent for the things we do wrong, and ask for forgiveness.  We need to do this every day of our lives.  Whether we are aware of things done wrong or are so calloused by the “way of the world” in us and are just blithely moving along, I can promise you, it’s very likely that you, like me, haven’t lived a perfect life today in thought, word, and deed, in what we have done and what we have failed to do.  Look at God’s promise when we do come to Him in prayer, humbly seeking forgiveness

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

While none of us can really explain the connection to forgiveness and healing, there are certainly aspects of that.  We know that when 4 friends brought a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing and tore up a roof to get close to Jesus, Jesus’ words to the man were about forgiveness and then He said, “

I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.  Mark 2:10-12

So Lord, we come in prayer to You today and every day because we need to ensure we are relying on You and not on our own.  We too often are rebellious and stiff-necked self-centered folks, caring about our own experiences and opinions more than what’s going on in the lives of others.  Forgive us.  Heal us. Help us to see as You see, care as You care, and act as You guide us, to bring reconciliation and healing to everyone we meet.  Amen