December 02, 2013

To God’s Ears

I was doing some extended complaining to Bill about something that had happened and when I finally caught myself I went back and apologized to him for grousing an bending his ear. He accepted my apology with the caveat, “That’s OK. Nobody but me and God can hear you.” I chuckled, but his comment hit a nerve. We sometimes think our communication with God is similar to a light switch. We turn the switch on when we want God to hear our prayers and cries for mercy, but the switch is automatically off if we don’t specifically call on Him in petitions. “I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” (Psalm 66:17-20 NIV)

1 comment:

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----The degree to which God knows our hearts would be unnerving if it were not matched by the degree to which He is forgiving. Jesus made a very plain point indeed in saying our Father will forgive us as much as we forgive others. The more I see left needing forgiveness in me, the more I prepare to forgive offenses against me. In fact, I am not even proficient enough in discerning what is sin to know all of the sins I ought to confess, therefore I try to be forgiving towards what I might not even know to be sins against me. It isn’t like, “…this one of mine for that one of yours…one for me, one for you…” It is attitude. I work on my preparation to forgive as earnestly as I work on my preparation to confess.

Love you all,
Steve Corey