When you place a call to heaven, you will not be greeted with an AT&T angelic automated system where you must work your way through an aggravating maze of prompts and options just to finally reach a live connection with the operator, Andy the Angel, who will, based on certain criteria and pre-requisites, determine whether to connect you or not to the throne room. When you pray, you will not hear, “If you know your party’s extension please dial it now, otherwise please hold the line for the soonest available customer service representative. Our angels are very busy, and we are experiencing a very heavy call volume due to today’s economy, so your call will be answered in the order that it was received. Your current wait time will be…6 million, 700 thousand, and 42 minutes. If you pass away while still on hold, please make your way to the heavenly holding area and take a number. Thank you for your patience, it’s a virtue.”
God is invisible as the Bible tells us in 1 Tim. 1:17, and because of this, many times as believers, we knowingly or unknowingly perceive Him as periodically deaf as well. We may believe He hears us when we are at church or in a prayer meeting with other believers, but many times in our daily, ordinary lives, we think and live like He’s not HERE, so we assume He doesn’t HEAR. But let me encourage you, God is not deaf! Though He is invisible, He hears us, even the faintest whisper. And when you call God on the line, you GET God on the line! God is old school. He never changes as Malachi 3:6 tells us. God answers His own line. He doesn’t have an extension or voicemail, or automated system. He doesn’t have Gabriel as His receptionist sitting in a golden cubicle, wearing a headset, and answering phones. God takes all His own calls. There is no…press one for meeting your needs according to abundant riches…press 2 for healing on the go…press 3 for the prayer processing center to check the status of your order, please have your account and routing numbers available.” When you call, God is actually on the other end. He is there waiting for the phone to ring hoping it’s you. He longs just to hear your voice. He anxiously awaits your call. He even checks the dial tone to make sure it’s working! And when it rings His heart leaps knowing you’re on the line. A smile broadens His face as He picks up, knowing you are there. You are the apple of His eye, Deut. 32:10, Psalms 17:8; You are a treasure and gift to Him. He hears you, He’s listening, and He doesn’t automate your call and send you through a maze of numbers and options just to leave a message on some heavenly answering machine where a panel of angels process and discard requests. He is right there hearing your every cry, your every hurt, your every hope and dream, and your every concern. He cries with you, He hopes and dreams with you, and He takes your concerns and gives peace in return. He is your biggest fan. How do I know this is true? Because Psalm 139 speaks all about it! “How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand…” Psalm 139:17-18
God is on your side! He awaits your prayers and your heart’s cry. He doesn’t sleep or slumber, but is awake, alert, and an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 121: 3-4; Psalm 46:1 He wants to hear your voice in sad times, happy times, bored times, or just ordinary mundane times. He wants to hear your voice all the time. He loves you like no one else! Why not love Him back the way He loves you? Has it been a while since you’ve called home? Pick up the line. He’s waiting for you, live and in person.
“O Thou who does hear prayer, to Thee all men come.” Psalm 65:2
“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him.” John 9:31
“And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” 1 John 5:14-15