I recently attended a workshop on listening. I was shocked to hear that, in a regular speaker-audience setting, only 20 percent of people are actively tracking what the speaker is saying. The majority are daydreaming, thinking about lunch, reminiscing, or perhaps pondering life’s big questions.
This fact made me pause and reflect: How good am I at listening? How great is God at listening? Does God listen to me when I pray? Can I be assured that He hears my heart?
King David must have asked the same questions. He begins some psalms with a plea, loosely translated to be, “Listen to me, God, please!” In Psalm 5:1 he writes, “Listen to my words, LORD, consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.” And in Psalm 39:12, he cries out, “Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping.”
I bet most of us feel like David. We wish so badly for God to understand us, to not ignore our deepest longings. Thankfully, David also reports that God hears our prayers: “You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry” (Psalm 10:17).
Have you felt like God is not paying attention when you pray? Can you gain confidence that He hears you, and waits for you to share your heart? Even when our hearts are not right, God still listens.
Dear God, I count myself among the afflicted, and cry out to you for your loving ear. Thank you for being eternally present to listen, love, and care for me even when it doesn’t feel like it. May I share my joy and pain with you, for you want intimacy with me. Thank you! Amen.
Go Deeper — Write down Psalm 10:17, quoted above. Put it in your Bible, and the next time you are wondering if God really hears, pull it out and be assured that He does.
Read Further — One way to be sure God is listening is to “hear” His response. Here are Six Ways God Speaks.
Photo Credit: Annie Spratt