Leave God a Message
March 3, 2009 • By Ed Wrather
03.03.09
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. - 1 John 5:14-15.
Johan van der Dong who is an artist in the Netherlands wants people to leave messages for God. Johan has set up a telephone number with an answering machine to allow everyone that wants to do so to leave God a message. He thinks that it is a way for us to organize our thoughts and to have some contemplation. When you call the number you will hear the following message (In Dutch, I listened to this on Fox News this morning.) "Hi, you are speaking to God. I’m not in right now so leave a message after the beep." Wouldn’t that be wonderful? It would be wonderful if we could leave a message, a prayer, that God would actually listen to and hopefully respond to at some point in time.
The truth is that you do not have to record a message on an answering machine in order to communicate with God. God had a better idea. God’s idea and plan that He has implemented means that you can bypass the answering machine mode or any other intermediary and communicate directly with God. Now that is a great idea, a wonderful idea, a fantastic idea; no, it is not an idea - it is the spiritual reality. Not only that we have the ability to talk directly to God, but we can do so "boldly."
If someone were to watch us praying in private they might possibly think that we are talking to ourselves. Even if they knew that you were praying, some would say that you are wasting your time that God cannot actually hear you. However, the Bible makes it clear that we can pray with confidence knowing "that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." Not only does He hear us, but He answers us giving us what we have asked for according to His will.
Not only does God hear us and respond to our prayers, but sometimes He also speaks to us in answer to those prayers. Have you ever heard God speaking to you? In an Abnormal Psychology class that I once took the professor said that to say that you can hear the voice of God is a symptom of mental illness. However, then he said that most Baptist deacons would say that they can hear God speaking to them. Jesus says this, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27)." In 1 Kings 19 we are told about Elijah being very despondent and this great prophet was hiding in a cave fearing for his life. God spoke to Elijah and said, "‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’"
Have you been hiding in a cave thinking that no one cares and that God doesn’t care about what you are going through in your life? Listen. Listen for that still small voice. God is speaking and if you’ve been hiding in a cave or someplace else because of the circumstances you are in - God is speaking, and He is saying, "What are you doing here?" What are you doing there when you can go boldly to the throne of the Creator of the universe and ask whatever it is that you need, and He promises to hear?
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