Are You There, God?

ARE YOU THERE, GOD?

It was time for her prayers before jumping into bed. Little Susie began her prayer by thanking God for all His blessings that day. She did good on her tests, and her best friend came to visit her after school. So she spent a special time thanking Him for all the good things He did for her that day. But when it was time for her to conclude her prayer, she said, “Good night, Dear Jesus, wherever You are. We’re moving to New York in the morning. It’s been nice talking to You. Amen.” To her, Jesus could only hear her prayers if she was in the right place at the right time.

There are times when each of us feels that God is not paying attention to us when we pray. It seems as though the doors of heaven are locked tight, and God is too busy to hear us. Or maybe we’ve moved away from Him, and He no longer cares about us or our needs. Even the writer of Psalm 102:1 felt that way when he wrote: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, let my cry for help come to You.”

This was no ordinary prayer. He was desperate and begged God for His attention. He sensed a distance between himself and God, was in a crisis and could not endure this sense of alienation. And he continued by saying, “Do not hide from me - answer me quickly!”

Perhaps a lesson we can learn from this prayer is that God’s “time-piece” is different from ours. It includes eternity. We must always remember that He is at work in and with us shaping us into Christ’s likeness.

Prayer: Grant us patience, Father, as we wait before You, knowing that You are doing things we cannot see. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Psalm 102:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my cry come to You.