Is God Listening?

 "You may ask for anything in my name and I will do it." John 14:14

    He was a nice man, a lanky, affable guy with a faith in God to match his smile. He had just started wearing a toupee that made him look younger and, I thought, sort of handsome for an older fellow. He was my Sunday School superintendent and I looked up to him.

    Then, one Sunday, I came to the classroom to find he wasn't there. A tragic fall had rendered him paralyzed and, though he attended services with his faithful wife pushing his wheelchair, he never returned to our Sunday School room. Fervently, I prayed he'd walk again, just as I'd learned through all those Bible stories acted out on the flannelgraph, when Jesus directed the lame to "get up, take your mat and go home."

    When, week after week elapsed and the man was still in that wheelchair, the outcome of my prayers affected me. I had the faith of a child, a child who wanted things to go back to the way they were. A child who cringed to see a man who used to stand tall, now with useless legs beneath a blanket, a visual reminder of my seemingly powerless prayers.

    What went wrong? Was God listening? 

    Years have gone by. I've participated in many small groups, studies and services where prayers are requested and lifted up, but have I grown past my childhood observance? When I have been in need of prayer, do those who have promised to approach God on my behalf follow through? Will these heaven-bound petitions do any good?

    The answer, as sure as I'm sitting here, is "yes." Praying in Jesus' name is not like rubbing a magical lamp, or maybe you've seen those ads taken out in the newspaper that posts a prayer which promises marvels if one would just repeat it over and over. No, that's all wrong.  Rather, prayer is an outward extension of an inward relationship, a unique partnership between the Father and His child build on trust. It's not MY will be done, but that HIS will will be accomplished. The world does not revolve around me.

    When I was a kid, I'd see my mom sitting at her desk writing checks and tabulating figures. I had no comprehension of her task as I happily passed by on my way to play but, as I matured I understood. As I walk with the Lord, I don't always know what He's up to, but I do know He's taking care of business. When I have a question or request, He will lay aside His task and listen to me because I am His daughter.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9, 10