And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear (Isa. 65:24).
According to its placement in a passage dealing with the new-earth state yet to come, this promise will have special application there; but it applies here, too, for our God is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God. Foreseeing our needs and our prayers regarding those needs, the heavenly Father arranges His proveniences so that before the need actually arises He has supplied it, before the terrible trial assails us He has prepared deliverance. This is because He knows everything in the future as well as in the past. He foresees our need, and His answer is really there before our prayer is made.
God is in heaven, and we are on earth; yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. While we are praying, He is answering. While we are speaking, He is hearing. Our prayers may be so short and so intense in time of danger that we can hardly remember a word of them. We think of the prayer of Peter, "Lord, save me." We may pray that same prayer without actually using the words. How wonderful that while we are speaking He hears, and before we call He is preparing deliverance. "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee" is His word (Ps. 50:15).
Years ago a boy in church opened his eyes during prayer. All heads were bowed. He looked at the minister. He saw is lips moving and heard the words. How foolish, he thought, for anyone to imagine that those words could be heard beyond these walls. Today that boy is a man and owns a radio. He listens to stations thousands of miles away and thinks of people speaking into a microphone, addressing invisible audiences on other continents. He thinks of an instrument sensitive enough to pick up voices among the stars. Now prayer seems to him the most natural thing in the world. "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come" (Ps. 65:2).
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee" (Ps. 102:1).
According to its placement in a passage dealing with the new-earth state yet to come, this promise will have special application there; but it applies here, too, for our God is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God. Foreseeing our needs and our prayers regarding those needs, the heavenly Father arranges His proveniences so that before the need actually arises He has supplied it, before the terrible trial assails us He has prepared deliverance. This is because He knows everything in the future as well as in the past. He foresees our need, and His answer is really there before our prayer is made.
God is in heaven, and we are on earth; yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. While we are praying, He is answering. While we are speaking, He is hearing. Our prayers may be so short and so intense in time of danger that we can hardly remember a word of them. We think of the prayer of Peter, "Lord, save me." We may pray that same prayer without actually using the words. How wonderful that while we are speaking He hears, and before we call He is preparing deliverance. "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee" is His word (Ps. 50:15).
Years ago a boy in church opened his eyes during prayer. All heads were bowed. He looked at the minister. He saw is lips moving and heard the words. How foolish, he thought, for anyone to imagine that those words could be heard beyond these walls. Today that boy is a man and owns a radio. He listens to stations thousands of miles away and thinks of people speaking into a microphone, addressing invisible audiences on other continents. He thinks of an instrument sensitive enough to pick up voices among the stars. Now prayer seems to him the most natural thing in the world. "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come" (Ps. 65:2).
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee" (Ps. 102:1).
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