part 4 of “Talking to Jesus”
I am sure that you have battled this idea or thought along with me. Why pray? Why do I need to pray? God doesn’t hear me or answer me when I do. So what is the point? God is supposed to hear me when I call to Him. The Bible says that God will answer when I call to Him. So why doesn’t He answer me? What’s the point in even talking to Him?
All of those feelings are real. It can be frustrating praying to God when it feels like He not listening to us or hearing us. We feel like King David did. I want to revisit a couple of verses from the book of Psalms that we looked at a few weeks ago. These verses show what David was feeling as he was crying out to God and felt like God wasn’t listening to him. Let’s look at the verses together…
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.” - Psalms 22:1-2 NLT
David felt like we do sometimes. He felt like God was far away and distant. He felt like God had abandoned him in his time of need. David felt like God wasn’t going to answer him even though he was crying out day and night to him. I am sure that you have felt this way. I know I have. When the things of life just start going crazy and all we need is a little help, we feel like God isn’t close at all. We feel like He’s not there to help us. We feel like He doesn’t hear us. But here is what David wrote in the very next verse…
“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” - Psalms 22:3 NLT
Even though David had human feelings and expressed to God what he was feeling. David still knew that God was good and worthy to be praised. Even though David was confused and had his doubts about the circumstances he was facing in life. He still knew that God was worthy of praise for what He had done for him in the past. God always came through for David.
The same goes for us as well. We may become frustrated in different seasons of life that feel like we are never going to make it through. As we go through these seasons of life we start to feel like God isn’t there or hearing our cries for help. But the truth is He is there. He is there with us in the valleys. He is there to comfort us, guide us, and protect us (Psalm 23).
The other part of prayer that I would like to mention here as we bring this series to a close is when we pray we also need to listen. We may think that God isn’t listening to us when we pray, but what if it’s us that isn’t listening. As we have said in this series, God wants to have a conversation with us. A conversation takes two things - talking and listening. If we are always talking and not listening then we may miss what God says to us. Could it be that God is always talking to us - but we are always being too loud? Have you ever been in a one-sided conversation? All the other person did is talk talk talk talk talk and you couldn't get a word in. Maybe the reason we can't hear God is because we won't let Him get a word in.
But listening for God’s voice can be a little bit challenging. God doesn’t speak in an audible voice anymore as He did from the burning bush when He spoke to Moses. But we see in the book of 1 Kings how God speaks to Elijah.
“‘Go out and stand before me on the mountain,’ the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. - 1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT
When it came to Elijah hearing God, he needed to be quiet. God wasn’t in all the noise. God was in the quiet. God speaks in a whisper. We have to be quiet to hear a whisper. If we are being loud and always talking, we won’t be able to hear a whisper. Do you want to know why God whispers? Because He is close. He is close to us. When you are sitting close to someone you don’t need to talk loud. So God doesn’t talk loud. God whispers. Are we being quiet enough to hear the whisper of God?
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” - Psalms 34:18 NLT
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