Sometimes it feels as if God isn’t  listening to me.” Those words, by a woman who tried to stay strong in her walk with God while coping with an alcoholic husband, echo the cry 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 Saviour. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He agonised for hours in prayer, pouring out His heart and pleading, “Let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 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.

When we pray, God listens.

Author

Dave Branon

Topics

Our Daily Bread