Does God really hear us?

How do you feel about your prayer life? Pause on that for a second before moving on and really think about it. How do you truly feel about it?

   Do you feel indifference? Do you pray at times simply because you believe that you should? Is it a chore, or some sort of requirement you want to get out of the way before going to bed at night, or before going to work in the morning?

   What is it that you believe you've accomplished after praying? What do you say? Do you speak to God as if you're reading a laundry list of requests? Do you feel as though you don't know what to say, so you find yourself cutting things off, not wanting to bother Him? Do you believe he has more important things to do than to listen to you? Do you recite memorized prayers because you believe that's what He wants to hear?

   If we're honest, we'll readily admit that we've all felt these things at times. We've all offered up quick prayers without thinking much about them. So, how do we change this? How do we make our prayer life more dynamic, richer, and deeper? How do we pray in a manner which our God would want us to pray?

   First of all, I truly believe that we need to pause before we utter our first word in prayer, and allow ourselves to meditate upon who it is we're talking to. Not to rush ourselves at all, but to truly meditate upon it for a few minutes. Jesus Himself, when teaching us how to pray, began by saying: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

   In Genesis 1, we read the story of creation. We all know the story. We've heard it a million times. God created the heavens and the earth, and then filled them with living things. Plants, animals, birds, fish, and finally humans.

   We've heard that story so many times, we sometimes flash right past those words without giving them much thought. The story has become so ingrained in us, we tend to take it for granted. We say things like "God has always been here, He's here now, and He'll always be here." We readily agree that He knows all that was, all that is, and all that is to come.

   But if we truly allow our minds to wrap around that thought, there is an obvious conclusion we should be able to draw. If, when God created the heavens and the earth, if when He created us, He knew all that was to come for the rest of eternity, then did He not also, at that very moment, create the day we find ourselves in right now? Did He not create the life we are living? Did He not create the circumstances that led us to the place where we find ourselves bowing our heads in prayer? If He created the first day, with a full knowledge of what would also occur on the very last day, wouldn't He have also created every day between the two?

   A.W. Tozer writes: "God did not create life and toss it from Him like some petulant artist disappointed with his work. All life is in Him and out of Him, flowing from Him and returning to Him again, a moving indivisible sea of which He is the fountainhead."

And also:

   "Whatever else it embraces, true Christian experience must always include a genuine encounter with God. Without this, religion is but a shadow, a reflection of reality, a cheap copy of an original once enjoyed by someone else of whom we've heard."

   This God, who created all there is, who created life itself, did so because He wanted us to know Him, to love Him, and to have a true, deep, meaningful relationship with Him as our Lord and our God. It's really that simple.

   He is not our buddy at work, or our pal at the bar. He's not a genie in a bottle, here at our beckoned call to give us whatever we want whenever we choose to dignify Him with our attention.........He is God. And yet, while being God, He "inclines His ear to us." (Psalm 116:2) 

   In Him is all wisdom, all knowledge, and every good thing. Every blessing you've ever received originated in Him. So how does this translate into our prayer life? Simple. If we'll simply pause to remember who we're talking to, it will always create within our hearts an immediate sense of awe, a deep sense of humility. But it does more. It puts our hearts in a place where we can truly hear Him as He speaks to us through His Spirit.

   In Ephesians 1:18-23, Paul writes:

   "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

   He has made available to us ".........the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."

   This, my friends, is the God we are speaking to when we pray. He is "........far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come." And we are ".........the church, which is His body......"

   If He is far above all rule and authority, which He truly is, then He has the power to change anything and everything without even raising a hand. We need not focus upon the world, or the cares and concerns that come from living in it. We simply need to remember who He is, because who He is changes everything.

   If we approach every prayer with that mindset, we will be forever changed, and we will never look at prayer the same way again.