Bad connection, no Reply

Psalm 28:1-2

 “To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.  Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.”

Bad connection, no answer on the other end, and we assume that God is on vacation, away from His phone, or maybe upset with us for bothering Him with our problems.  But those thoughts do not line up with the Scriptures, looking at Psalm 55:16-17, “But I call to God, and the Lord will save me.  Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.”  King David does not tell us God replies that moment, but one thing he is sure of God heard him and will save him.

Do you recall David’s sin of adultery, and God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David?  God was still hearing David’s prayers during this time of a sinful life, but David was breaking God’s law, and God knew that until he was confronted David would not repent.  But now the rest of that story, sin brings judgment, David fasted and prayed for the son Bathsheba was carrying but David’s act of sin would not allow God to be untrue to His character.

A quote from Billy Graham, “Often, however, God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we think He should because He loves us, and He knows what is best for us. It’s often been said that God answers prayer in one of three ways: “Yes”, “No”, and “Wait”—and it’s true. We see only part of the picture—but God sees the whole. This is why we must seek God’s will when we pray, and not just our own. The Bible says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will … we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).”

Jesus disciples learned these truths from Jesus; “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonian 5:16-18

But did you know Jesus prayed this prayer for you and is interceding for us this moment before the Father?  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:20-24)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice