When God Hears

We are in a series of messages on faith, friends, and our lesson today is entitled, When God Hears. We must ask ourselves, do we really believe in a living Lord who is vitally interested and involved in our lives? Does the Creator of the universe take an active interest in our lives on a daily basis? Does Almighty God actually hear our petitions and prayers that we send up to Him? Do we really believe He does? I believe He does, friends, and I can find a text to prove that God hears us when we pray to Him and speak to Him. My Bible declares in Psalm 40, I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry.

Here David is in adversity, and he needs deliverance from his trouble, and the imagery used in this verse is striking. When David says, He inclined unto me, this is a picture of God on His throne, and He leans over to hear our cry, and if I may so say, He cups His hand to His ear to listen to what we have to say. It's a vivid imagery of a God, high and lifted up, who is interested in the most minute requests of man.

I'm sure, friend, if you look back on your own life with Jesus, you can point to numerous occasions where you felt God heard your cry. This has been a reality in my own life, time and time again. My mind goes back to many years ago when I was driving home from my office, and I was sad because I knew that God had gifted me as a writer, but I wasn't given an opportunity to use that gift.

I had written several secular books in the past that never found a publisher. All I ever received were rejection slips in the mail with the return type manuscript. Now, this was in the days of typewriters.

Some of you have never even seen a typewriter. I had a manual roll typewriter that I pounded out my written works on. Some of you older saints will even recall what onion paper was.

Anyhow, I was now a Christian, and I was driving home thinking about my unused gift as a penman, and as I drove I began to pray and let God know my feelings on the matter. I told him, Lord, you gave me a talent and I haven't been able to use it. Why? Why won't you use my talent? And I began to cry, and as I drove through my tears I knew deep down that God had heard me.

That weekend I was in my church bookstore and I asked the lady clerk if there was a biography on J. Sidlow Baxter. She answered sadly, No. Perhaps some day someone will write one.

I went home and I told that to my wife. I said, Can you believe there's no biography on Sidlow Baxter? He's sold millions of Christian books. He's known all over the world.

My wife looked at me and said, You used to write. Why don't you write it? And I laughed at such an incredible remark. But God used those remarks of the clerk in the store and my wife's remarks, and he put it in my heart to write Sidlow Baxter's biography.

In less than a month's time I was flying out to Santa Barbara, California, to meet with J. Sidlow Baxter's widow, who had just given me written permission to write her husband's authorized biography. Everything fell quickly into place. Adrian Rogers wrote the foreword.

Stephen Oldford wrote the preface. And Baker Books sent me a publishing contract. As I drove down the street that particular afternoon, with tears streaming down my face and my heart poured out to God in prayer about why he hadn't used my gift as a writer, little did I know what I know now, for by his grace I am the author of 18 published Christian books.

When God hears, you can believe, friends, that he is up to something that will result in the good of his kingdom and his glory. Let us pray.