God has Plans

Many of us will be very familiar with verse 11 of this scripture passage that talks about God having a plan for our lives, which I personally find quite encouraging. I believe that knowing God has a plan and purpose for each of us gives us immense hope for the immediate and distant future of our lives. However, I do wonder how many of us move on to the next two verses, which tell us to call upon God and come and pray to Him, and He will listen to us.

This tells me that the main way we can find out God’s plan to prosper us is to go to Him, and have a living relationship with Him on an ongoing basis. That is to be in constant communication with our heavenly Father, whom scripture tells us loves to hear from us, as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to ‘pray continually’. It also says in Philippians 4:6 – ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’.

We may have heard that communication is a two-way process and requires each party taking turns in speaking and listening, otherwise it can easily become a monologue, where one person speaks, but doesn’t expect a response from the other. I read recently that ‘true’ communication is not what we say and do, but what is heard and experienced by the other. A lot of prayers that we engage in can be very one-sided, where we seem to tell God all we want Him to do, but hardly stop to hear His answers to our, usually long, list of requests.

Do we ask Him for guidance about a situation and then listen for His response? It says in verse 12 that God listens to us, so shouldn’t we also do the same, and listen to Him by giving Him time and space to speak to us? Sometimes we expect Him to respond within our own imposed timescale, rather than trusting Him enough to believe what verse 11 says – that God wants the very best for us. It’s heart-warming to know that God has a good plan for each of us, and He listens to us when we call on Him and pray to Him.

I find that verse 13 gives more meaning to the previous two verses, because it talks about us seeking God with all our hearts and finding Him. This tells me that, through a deep heart-felt relationship with our Heavenly Father, He always makes Himself available to us, and this allows Him the opportunity to share His divine plans with us, as well as walk with us through any situation we may find ourselves in. He is indeed a good Father, and the intimate relationship we have with Him is surely more important than any requests.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gifts of life and love. Teach us to seek You with all our hearts, so that we’ll find You in all circumstances, giving glory and honour to You in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.