CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 853

“Relying on God – Ears to Hear”

Ezek 12:1-2 (NIV)  …They have…ears to hear but do not hear…

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A man who had fallen off a cliff was hanging onto a branch just below the precipice crying out: ‘Somebody help! Is anybody up there? Help me!’ Suddenly a voice from heaven spoke and said, ‘I am God and I have heard your cry for help. Let go of the branch and I will rescue you.’ The man, although tired and weary with his grip weakening, contemplated this command to let go and after looking down at the cavern below him cried out again: ‘Is anybody else up there?’

For us to rely on God fully we need to remain close to Him, rejecting the false security of material possessions and resisting the temptation to solve matters through our own worldly alliances. We also need to have a personal relationship with Jesus and not rely on a proxy relationship through others or through religious institutions.

Another reason why many Christian believers have difficulty relying on God when the trials of life sweep in like a flood is illustrated by our opening allegorical story. Many of us have a tendency toward preconceived notions about how God will work through a particular situation. Sometimes God directs us to do things that seem counterintuitive to our logical way of thinking so we put God ‘in a box’ with parameters and boundaries of our own design. These preconceptions give us deaf ears when God speaks to us. Like the man hanging from the cliff, we cannot take God at His Word and seek another answer instead–one that more closely aligns with our pre-established paradigm.

Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd. If we remain close to Him we will hear and recognize His voice and trust in Him. We must always be careful of the tendency to tell God how He is to work. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me…and they will listen to my voice. (John 10:14-16)

As Job aptly stated, God does speak and He speaks to preserve your soul and your life. (Job 33:14-18 NIV) May the Lord give you a discerning and an obedient heart that will allow you to hear clearly from Him and to rely on Him totally.