TODAY’S MEDITATION – God hears and listens to us (Psalm 34:7)

Today’s verse says: “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles”.

Most people would say, I prayed to God and He answered me. For God to answer us, He heard us! Others would say, I know God hears me, and they are right… in a way. the truth is, God does not hear everything we say, though He can listen to us. In His dedication prayer, Solomon asked God this: “if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You (2 Chronicles 6:37-39).

My brother, my sister, God indeed listens and hears us, but is it as automatic as we think? Will someone we never listen to when he talks to us ALWAYS listen to us? I remember recently asking someone who told me this “I know God hears me”… I answered, “do you hear Him?” So, my friend, my question to you (and me of course) is, ‘do we hear God speaking to us?” Why do we believe so hard that God hears us if we, in turn, are not ready to hear from Him, hear what He is telling us to do in His Word. God’s Word is God’s mouth speaking to us. Today many believers think that God only speaks through people (‘prophets’) and they don’t read the Word to hear God speak to them directly; others hear God speaking to their heart all the time, but there is no transformation in their life, in their character, attitude, behaviour, or even in their faith… Is that really possible? Yes, God listens and hears us what we are telling Him, but do we hear Him? However, many verses tell us that God hears us IF… when certain conditions are met:

– And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us (1 John 5:14).
– I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! (Psalm 66:17-20)
– We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him (John 9:31)
– The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)

My friends, let’s all reflect on this through our individual walk with Him. Yes, God is ready to hear and listen to our cries, pleas, requests, but do we fill the IF…? Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.