My father was quite ill with cancer and I, my wife, and children flew home from the west coast to see him. We had been praying for him for months, but he was getting more and more ill by the day. I had spoken to my father many times on the phone, but now when I was there in person he could hardly speak. I remember my wife and I praying for him while he was lying in his bed. He spoke one last time to me. “Son, I am going to be just fine.” He died a few days later.
Did God not hear our prayers? Did He not know the seriousness of the hour? Sometimes in the midst of such difficulty you begin to ask those questions. Maybe you have asked those questions yourself at some time in your life. In a spiritual sense, my father was going to be just fine and would be fully cured in heaven. As Jesus said, your faith has healed you.
Our prayers are so precious to God he keeps them in golden bowls as we read in Revelation 5:8 – And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.[1]
When the prophet Jeremiah was sitting in a bottom of a cistern standing in cold mud, he may have wondered if the Lord heard his cry. When circumstances overwhelm us, it is easy do doubt if God hears us. The enemy also wages a war against us and tells us God doesn’t hear or care. Nothing could be further from the truth of God’s word.
Verses of comfort when you wonder if God hears you.
Psalm 34:15 –The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. [2]
Psalm 40:1 – I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. [3]
A prayer for God to hear your cry.
Lord Jesus, hear my cry for help. You tell us the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective in James 5:14. I humbly come before you today asking in faith (your request). Thank you, Lord, for hearing me. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
To hear more of Jeremiah’s story listen here:
To hear more teaching on this story, listen here:
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Re 5:8). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ps 34:15). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ps 40:1–2). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.