Prayer In Trust That God Is Listening And Will Act in The Right Time and Way

 Prayer Heard

Two significant people in the Christmas story – and certainly in the pre-Christmas story – are the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.  You can read their story in Luke 1. 

They were both elderly and had prayed for a child all their lives.  Now both were past the age where they might expect to conceive and bear a child.  But one day while Zechariah is performing his duties in the temple an angel appears to him with this message:

The angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.  Luke 1:13

I won’t go into all the details of the story but God was true to His word and Elizabeth did conceive and give birth to a son whom they named John and he became the famous John the Baptist – the one who announced to the world that Jesus was the Messiah his people had been waiting for and anticipating.

“Your prayer has been heard.”  Are there lovelier words than those? I often stop in amazement when I think that the God who created the not only the earth in all its beauty and complexity but the vastness of space we’ve hardly begun to explore – this God pays attention to what I have to say on any given day and stands ready to act.  If anyone other than God promised that I’d think they were out of their minds because the reality is so mind-bogglingly amazing.

At the same time, Elizabeth and Zechariah had been praying all their lives and their situation had not seemingly gotten any better – in fact, the older they got the worse things seem.  But God, was in control and doing things in the right way and the right time.

We wonder what impact our prayers are having when this pandemic seems to go on and on.  The pressures on our finances and families aren’t immediately lifted.  There’s no magic wand on our horizon to be waved over our troubles and see them instantly resolved.  What good does it do to pray to God about our troubles? 

We get a clue from our good friend Daniel who was so faithful in praying that it got him thrown into a den of lions, only to have God spare His life and a whole nation be impacted by his faithful stand with God waiting on God’s answer to prayer in God’s time. 

One time when Daniel was praying and waiting and no answer seemed to be coming he had a vision and this is what he saw and heard:

Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.  Daniel 10:12-13

There are forces working in the unseen world and God has chosen to work with our prayers to bring about blessing in our world.  God’s answer gets through in the right time.  Our job is to pray and trust.  Let’s do that.

Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.  Psalm 116:2

Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.  1 Chronicles 16:11

That’s what we are going to do today and continue to do because You are the God who hears and answers prayer.  We will put our trust in You in action as well as these verses instruct us.

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  Romans 12:9-12

And we end with these comforting and reassuring words – so familiar and yet so powerful:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

We know that like Daniel or Elizabeth and Zechariah, or the many others who have prayed down through the centuries, You are dependable to hear and respond to our prayers and so we now and will pray often today and each day going forward.  Amen