Prayers Rise to Heaven

2 Chronicles 30:27
The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

I love to witness our grandchildren's prayers. Their sweet "Charlie Brown" voices resound with sincerity. No traces of doubt color their words. They know God listens to them as they bless the food, or ask God to make their friend or family feel better. Children trust God to listen. So why is it, as adults, doubts niggle in to our prayers. We dismiss talking to God as childish or pointless. Belief slips and fear takes over.

Maybe in life, no one listens. Days are too noisy with social media, television, negativity, or defeat to reach out. Then there are the busy days. Too much to do, not enough time. Or, maybe we think God doesn't want to hear from us anyway. How could he? I'm a sinner, why would he listen to me? But I have amazing news! The creator of the universe, God himself, loves you and me. He considers us his children. And he wants to hear our words. Whether we pray out loud or think our prayers, every single word we breath toward him is precious to him.

"He turned his ear to me." Yes he leans toward us, with his ear in our direction, ready to listen. I love the picture 2 Chronicles paints of prayers rising to heaven. Because that's what happens—prayers rise and God leans down to listen. That's just beautiful!

Psalm 116:2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

Two Ears and One Mouth

James 1:19-20
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

I have a confession. Sometimes—I lose my temper. Unfortunately, that's a true statement. The weird thing is, I am usually at work when this happens. And almost every time, someone has told me something and instead of listening and thinking about their words, I let my mouth fly open. "Why did this happen?" "Why did that happen?" "That's not fair!" The one not being fair might be me, because I don't know the whole story. Yet God does, and he sees my behavior. I have proof—last Friday I was feeling bad about something I'd spouted, so I prayed. The next morning, in my Bible app, the verse of the day was James 1:19.

from commons.wikipedia.com

God knows my thoughts and my heart so well, I'm thinking he knows yours too. That's why I'm sharing this. James is a smart man, the brother of Jesus, and an inspiration to me. I love the book of James. Evidently, I need to read it more to remind myself of God's truth. When I read the verse on my phone, I was reminded of something I used to tell my elementary students at storytime. We have two ears and one mouth. We need to listen more than we talk. Sounds like I need my own advice.

On Monday morning, when I returned to work I taped a copy of James 1:19 on my computer. That little verse has been a great reminder, and practicing the wise words has given me a better week. What's God trying to tell you? Do you need a visual reminder. So far that method has helped me. Consider God's wisdom, it's the most amazing life transformer I know.

Do I Have to be Patient?

Psalm 37:7
Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

The country band Alabama sang a song about being in a hurry to get things done. They talked about rushing and ended up realizing they didn't even know why they pushed from one thing to another without stopping. Some days I feel that way too. I make a list of things to get done and move from one to the other just trying to finish. I don't like living in a rush. When I'm in a hurry for something to happen, I miss the moments. The quiet times when I need to listen for God's voice. The nudges from the Holy Spirit. The reminders from Jesus.

The Psalm speaks to those who believe in God. "Wait patiently," even when other people succeed with their plans. As I've gotten older, I realize God has a plan and he works in his time. When I get ahead of him circumstances get stressful, but when I wait his purpose unfolds as it should. If you're a list maker, like me, add time to reflect and think on his word. Stop and pray. Let things go. God doesn't expect me to be perfect, he expects me to obey. Praise God for his plan!