Really?!?Sample

Did You Say Something?

There is nothing much more frustrating than to say something and to feel like no one’s listening. When we are praying, it’s not uncommon to feel like we’re unheard by God.

In the reading today, Jesus tells an improbable story to highlight an important reality of God's involvement when we pray. The story includes a pesky guy who comes to his neighbor in the middle of the night with a request for food so he can be a good host to his guests.

Now to understand this story, you need to know something about the culture when it was told. There was an extreme value on hospitality during this time. Anyone hearing this story would have been shocked that someone wouldn't have gotten up immediately to help his friend. Eventually, the man's neighbor gets up and helps him, but only after much pleading. I'm sure the friend felt like his neighbor wasn't listening because of his unwillingness to help.

Jesus tells this story to make a comparison. If this bad neighbor actually hears and does something for his friend, how much more will God, who is good, listen to our prayers and care about what we say?

God doesn’t just hear our prayers out of some sort of cosmic obligation. Like parents who desperately want to know how their child’s day went, God has the same longing and focus when we engage with Him in prayer. In Hebrews 10, we read that because of the love embodied in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we can now boldly come to the presence of God with requests. If God was willing to sacrifice His Son on the cross for our sins, then He also is delighted to hear from us when we talk to Him.

God is listening. Are you going to talk to Him?

Prayer Prompts:

• Thank God for listening to your prayers and for giving you exactly what you need in every moment.
• Tell Him about the greatest need that you have in your life right now.
• Confess if there are areas in your life where you have intentionally, or unintentionally, failed to include Him.
• Thank God for a time that He gave you something that you needed instead of something that you wanted.