Prayer-Soldier Newbie
Joined: Apr 18, 2009 Posts: 1001
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 8:40 am Post subject: He Hears Our Prayers |
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He Hears Our Prayers
Scripture:
And it came to pass after this, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with you, man of God? Are you come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered, and that you should kill my son? And Elias said to her: Give me your son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, have you afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech you, return into his body. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold your son lives. And the woman said to Elias: Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and the word of the Lord in your mouth is true. (1 Kings 17:17-24)
For I give you to understand, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For neither did I receive it of man: nor did I learn it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my conversation in time past in the religion of Jews: how that, beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it. And I made progress in the religion of Jews above many of my equals in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased him who separated me from the womb of my mother and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles: immediately I condescended not to flesh and blood. Neither went I to Jerusalem, to the apostles who were before me: but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went to Jerusalem to see Peter: and I tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles I saw none, saving James the brother of the Lord. (Galatians 1:11-19)
And it came to pass afterward that Jesus went into a city that is called Naim: and there went with him his disciples and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother: and she was a widow. And a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: Weep not. And he came near and touched the coffin. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to you, arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear upon them all: and they glorified God saying: A great prophet is risen up among us: and, God has visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the country round about. (Luke 7:11-17)
Reflection:
When we pray, God always hears. We may not always understand His answer, but we must not doubt His compassion. We do not see as He sees; therefore, we do not always comprehend the purpose of our experiences. Of course, if we choose not to pray, the only message we leave to Him is that we do not care.
The path to many miracles have begun with prayer. The answer is not always immediate. Our tribulations may not be resolved as we expect, but He always answers. His answers are not only to His prophets, but to all who lift prayers up to Him. We must also remember, we should give thanks and praise for what we see and what we do not see of the many ways He works within our lives.
As we reflect upon scripture, we find God has spoken through His angels and His prophets, but we should also observe that He seeks to speak to every heart. We should not expect to hear His voice as we would converse with someone standing before us, but we must look to the conversation He seeks to establish within our hearts. We cannot do this when we are preoccupied with the world and do not find time where we might share with Him in prayer. We can only listen when we stop and open our hearts to Him. Through the Holy Spirit, He shall reveal to our soul all the blessings of His truth.
We might be tempted to ask, with all the miracles recounted in scripture, why does He not perform great miracles in our day and relieve us of all of our pain and our afflictions? Perhaps in our desire to see the parting sea; the burning bush; the healing of the blind, deaf, diseased and lame; or the raising of the dead; we are blinded to the many miracles of life for which we should be thankful.
Some will say, what we experience is only an outcome of chance, but those who place their faith in the products of accident fail to question just how precise and repetitive the outcomes of chance must be to enable all the complexities and interrelated elements of life. What we should ask instead, is how could it be possible that accident can somehow provide the required discipline and precision through which life is sustained? The answer as to how we exist can only be that it is by the providence of our Creator, for the design of mere accident tends to chaos before order.
It is good for us to examine and develop our understanding of the world in which He has given us dominion and stewardship. What we discover is a reminder of the mystery, majesty and glory of His creation. We should also reflect upon His miracles, both great and small, and what He seeks for us to understand from them. His glory and power are revealed to us in many ways. Let us, then, in prayer, reflect upon all the blessings of our day. While we may ask to be lifted from our tribulations and afflictions, we must also remember to give thanks for all the blessings He gives, all which He teaches, the ways He works in our lives, the answers to our prayers, the blessings of His mercy, and the grace of His love.
May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier
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