Before We Call God Hears Our Prayers
by Ruth Hawkey
Reading Psalm 116 the other day, the first two verses really impacted me, because it brought into my mind something I’d seen recently; a father and his little two or three-year-old son.
They’d must have been shopping, because they had a number of parcels and the little lad looked very tired and evidently wanted to be carried. His father had stopped to talk to a friend and was distracted from his son for just a few minutes. However, to attract his father’s attention, the boy, first of all, stamped his little foot, then pulled on his father’s arm, and when that didn’t work, he proceeded to sit down on the ground, refusing to go any further.
After a moment or two, the father looked down at his son, smiled, bent down and said something to him. The little lad at that point raised his arms and his father scooped him up and put him on his shoulders. They walked off happily, laughing and talking to each other.
I have no idea what was said, but the little lad was obviously happy that his father had noticed his distress. He’d listened to him and had solved his problem of tiredness by carrying him on his shoulders. Be assured that our Heavenly Father will do no less and usually does much more!
There’ve been times when I’ve done the same as that little lad with my Heavenly Father. I’ve sat down in a similar frame of mind and said to Him, “This far and no further!” The wonderful thing is that God is not phased by our wrong attitudes, but He comes alongside, picks us up, and whispers His truth and love into our heart. Our relationship with Him is then fully restored, as He carries us on His shoulders through the difficulties which we’re experiencing.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You that You know there are times when we’re so tired and feel we can’t go on. We need You to bend down and listen to our cry. We thank You that You’re always more than willing to do that for us, because, through Jesus, You’ve reached down to where we are in order to lift us up. Thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ruth Hawkey has had the privilege of working alongside Ellel Ministries from the very beginning. She and her husband Joe helped to begin the work in both Glyndley Manor and Canada. She has written a number of books including Healing Emotional Wounds, Healing the Human Spirit, Generational Blessing and Generational Sin, and Praying for Children. She and her husband also helped to develop prayer ministry teams in the local church.
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