Fear Not (Part 7/30) – God's Open Ear
The lamentations live up to their name: it is probably Jeremiah who writes of the many troubles of his soul and his despair. For example, he laments: ”See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled” (Lam 1:20a). He writes of sighs, a sick heart, tears, a missing comforter. Truly depressing.
But then suddenly, the sun shines through these thick, dark clouds: the Lord hears his cry! What an encouragement not to be alone in these difficult times! The fact that God hears prayers is the argument here for not being afraid!
Yes, God hears our prayer! He may not always answer it immediately, but He accepts it. Hindus report that they never have the certainty that their "god" is even listening to their prayer in the temple. But we know: Our Lord takes notice. You could compare this to a lawyer who receives our request, takes note of our case, and says: "I'll take care of it!" When and how this happens is another question – but it does happen!
"When the tide of fear rises, the dam of your soul must be strengthened by prayer." (unknown)
A motivating example of this is Daniel, who experiences great distress in his soul and presents it to the Lord, yet initially receives no answer. It was not until three weeks later that an angel came to bring him the news from the Lord. He explains to Daniel: "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me" (Daniel 10:12-13). God heard Daniel's words and sent an angel who was delayed for three weeks by a demonIn the Bible, demons are described as "unclean spirits" that are controlled by Satan (cf. Rev 16:13-14). On several occasions during His life on earth, the Lord Jesus cast out... More.
The point we can emphasize here is this: from the day we pray for a matter, our Lord hears and takes care of our concerns [1]—often, He does this even without our praying. If the solution is a long time coming, there is a reason for this. But what is certain is that God hears our prayer.
This thought can help us not to be afraid. We know that our request will be heard. We are not talking to the wall, and our prayers do not just reach the ceiling! Spurgeon writes: "Your prayers are all kept in heaven. Even if they are not answered immediately, they will not be forgotten." God may answer with an unwelcome "Later!" but He takes immediate notice of the distress of our souls!
The following Bible verses, which clearly show that the Lord hears our prayers, also apply to you:
- "The LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD has heard my supplication; The LORD will receive my prayer." (PsalmPsalm simply means "song." In the Old Testament, this word only occurs in connection with the Psalms of David and the Book of Psalms. Singers sang a psalm with instrumental... More 6:8-9)
- "O You who hear prayer, To You all fleshThe term "flesh" is used in different meanings in the Bible: a) as an expression of physicality or humanity, which is inextricably linked to our life on earth. Examples: “the... More will come." (PsalmPsalm simply means "song." In the Old Testament, this word only occurs in connection with the Psalms of David and the Book of Psalms. Singers sang a psalm with instrumental... More 65:2)
- "Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD: The God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.’" (Isaiah 38:5)
- "And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.’" (Exodus 3:7)
Unfortunately, we often find it so difficult to really cast our needs on the Lord, as Peter tells us to do (1 Peter 5:7). We often "take" them with us again. The following story, once told by a man of faith, illustrates how unreasonable this is:
A man was driving alone with his cart when he caught up with another man who was carrying a heavy load on his back. The man asked the other man if he wanted to ride with him. The man carrying the load accepted the friendly offer and climbed onto the cart—but kept his baggage on his back.
"Why," the driver asked him, "don't you take your baggage off and put it down in front of you?" – "Oh, dear sir," he replied, "it's so kind of you to give me a lift; I don't want to put too much strain on your cart and your horses. I think I can carry my baggage myself if I'm only allowed to ride in your cart." – "But please, dear sir, don't you realize that my cart has to carry your load anyway, whether you have it on your back or not? It would be far better to free your shoulders from it so that you can really feel relief!"
There's a lot to it, isn't there? Hudson Taylor motivates us: "It is no use being anxious and excited in danger; it makes you incapable of anything. You must cast your burden on the Lord."
Jerry Bridges writes very thought-provokingly: "To surrender our cares to God is to humble ourselves before His sovereignty and then trust Him for His wisdom and love."
So that's how we can do it: Since we know that the Lord hears our prayer and cares about our concerns, we can leave it with Him. Why should we burden ourselves any further when our Lord has agreed to take our worries off our hands? And is the answer to our prayer taking too long? Then we need to trust even more that the Lord means well with us, even then!
"Courage is fear that has prayed." (Corrie ten Boom)
The Lord Jesus tells you today: "Don't be afraid! Whatever burden you have entrusted to me in prayer, I have heard your request. I have taken note of it and I will not forget it. I will take care of it!"
[1] If we add Isaiah 65:24 and Psalm 139:4, we can even say that the Lord takes our request before we even present it in prayer: "Before they call, I will answer" and "For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether."
