Clothesline 292 "Body of Christ: Ears"

Our fifth subject in our Lenten series is: The Ears of Jesus to hear our Prayers. We probably don’t think very much about our ears or the ears of Jesus. But they are quite important. Usually, the only time we think of ears is when they don’t hear! But that’s the one thing we can always count on with Jesus…His ears always hear when we pray.

The idea of the Lord listening to our prayers is like an unbroken circle of activity. Our faith causes us to pray. The Lord listens to our prayers. And then the spiritual connection you have with God lets us know that our prayers have been heard. It’s an unbroken circle. God gives us faith. We pray in faith. God hears. Something happens. But not always in the way we want or expect.

Lazarus’ sister prayed for Jesus to come and keep Lazarus from dying, but Jesus had an even better plan. Instead of answering the sisters’ prayers and to keep Lazarus from dying, Jesus used that prayer to benefit those who would come after Lazarus and his sisters. And to accentuate the fact that God hears…ALL THE TIME…just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he drops to his knees in prayer and says, “Father I thank you for having heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe…” (John 11:41-42) God always hears. But sometimes the answer is no. And we may never know why. Like a loving parent listening to a child in need, God always knows what’s best for us. We simply have to trust Him, calling on our faith to get us through the situation when we don’t understand.

Throughout Scripture certain sentences are repeated over and over again and that generally means whatever it is, it’s important—that we need to heed its message—that we need to hear and listen. And one of those sentences is this: “Let anyone with ears to hear—listen.” When we pray for something we want results, don’t we. Sometimes, however, the answer comes in unexpected ways.

There’s an old story of the man in the midst of a flood. He prayed for God to rescue him and there was a knock on his door. It was a man with a four-wheel drive vehicle. He tries to take the man with him, but the man says, “No God is going to rescue me.” The water begins to rise and the man goes up to the second floor. Out his window he sees another man in a boat. “Hurry. Get in the boat with me.” And the man says: “No, God is going to rescue me.” The water rises some more and the man climbs up on the roof. And a helicopter comes. But the man says, “No thanks, God is going to rescue me.” Well, the water rises over the house and the man drowns. He stands before God and he says: “God, I don’t understand. I prayed. You say you always hear. But I drowned. Why didn’t you answer me?” And God says, “I sent you a truck, a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want?”

Indeed…pray and always ask for the courage to accept his response.