I’ve never really given much thought about the gray matter inside my head before, have you?
Weighing just three pounds, the brain is a powerhouse organ that controls the whole body. With rapid-fire speed, it receives messages from the outside world, interprets them in recognizable and meaningful ways, and directs the body into action by way of thoughts, speech, and movements.
Much like a computer’s operating system, the brain silently works in the background, learning, comparing, measuring, reasoning, analyzing. With ease, it can handle the more intricate functions, such as interpreting vision, hearing, and sensation, and storing facts, events, and impressions. It’s the place where emotions originate; where imaginations ruminate; where creativity soars, and where perceptions are formed into sound judgments, conclusions, and decisions.
Wow! All I can say is, indeed, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made… and my soul knows it very well!” (Read Psalm 139).
God invites us to come to Him with our questions.
All this talk about our marvelous remarkable brains reminds me of how much we really don’t know.
Yet, by nature, we are curious beings, aren’t we? Inquiring minds want to know! We want to know all the whys and what fors. We want to know all the eventualities and possibilities. We want to uncover what’s hidden, connect the dots, discover the causes! And of course, we want to know the end of the story. Plain and simple, we want answers!
In this digital age we live in, the world is literally at our fingertips. Yet, God knows we’re searching, but He wants us to come to Him for the answers.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.” – James 1:5-6.
Do you understand what this means? When you need wisdom, discernment, or insight, God invites you to approach Him without fear or apprehension. Your questions won’t offend Him, and He won’t judge you for asking.
Nothing is too hard for Him.
Furthermore, nothing you could ask is too hard for Him: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” – Jeremiah 32:27.
Simply put, no question is off limits! Sometimes we put our own limitations on God, because, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we fail to remember His demonstrated power; or we doubt His willingness to bless us; or we consider Him less than omnipotent. (I’ll leave it to you to read how the Israelites did these very things in Psalm 78:40-43).
God doesn’t wait for your question to reach Him. He bends down to reach you.
To help paint an even more vivid picture, the following verses reveal God’s willingness and eagerness to answer your questions:
“And when we draw near to God, He promises to draw near to you.” – Psalm 145:18 ESV.
In other words, when you lean toward Him with your honest questions, He instantly reaches toward you! Psalm 116:1-2 makes the picture even clearer:
I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
To “incline” means to turn or bend. Just think of it! At the first sound of your voice, He attentively bends down to meet you, ready, willing, and able to answer. No other god is as personal, loving, and caring as this, to bend down and meet you wherever you are!
Does God really hear my prayers?
Now that we know all about our fearfully and wonderfully made brains, and understand that God is eagerly standing by waiting for your call, le’ts pivot direction just a little, to answer a question that I believe many people wrestle with. I know I have.
“When I pray, does God really hear my prayers?”
Through Scripture, let’s just settle this right now:
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15 ESV
And this:
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” – Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV
It couldn’t be any clearer. God hears your prayers. Call to Him. He will answer.
A Personal Story and God’s Answer of Faithfulness.
I want to share a personal story, about a time in my life when I couldn’t feel God’s presence and I doubted that He cared about me. I was filled with overpowering fear and anxiety and stripped me of hope and peace.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried out in the open air, “God, are you there? With wavering voice and burning tears blurring my vision, my heart emptied it’s soul-aching burden. I desperately needed solace. I yearned for relief. I hoped for hope. “God, do you hear me? Do you even care?”.
This time was no different. It was a cold and ominous day in February or March of 2012. I was laying on the cold hard bed of the CAT Scan machine, newly diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s B Cell Lymphoma, scared, cold, and feeling uttering alone. The scan would cover my body head to toe, and would show if the cancer had metastasized and where it was. They didn’t tell me ahead of time, but my head needed to be stabilized for the duration. It took me off guard as a cage-like device was placed over my head. Suddenly, claustrophobia gripped me and coursed through my body, and I was screaming inside, “There’s NO WAY this was going to happen!” Outwardly, I timidly screeched, “Wait, you didn’t tell me about this. I’m not prepared. I can’t do it.”
The young technicians weren’t prepared either. I was scared out of my wits, and no one knew what to do or say to comfort me. I felt utterly alone as fear closed in, enveloping me like an eerie, dark fog. I sat there for a long time, maybe 20 minutes, reasoning in my mind that I had to go through with it, as I tried desperately to muster up the courage. I knew the doctors needed to know the extent of the cancer in order to wisely determine a treatment protocol. That made sense to me, but my emotions were running wild and in complete control, stifling my ability to think or rationalize.
The technicians were ready to usher me out, when out of nowhere I heard my wavering voice. “No, I’m going to do it”. They were stunned and weren’t sure what to do. Other patients were waiting, and surely my “little” debacle wasn’t helping the situation. If they continued with me, the whole day’s schedule would be delayed. I couldn’t bear the thought of having to come back another day, and to relive this nightmare experience. Thankfully, they decided to proceed.
As the test commenced, I was still in panic mode. I had to be still, so I couldn’t talk or move a muscle. In my mind, I was scream-praying to God: “God, are you there? Can you hear me”? Do you even care? Instantly, in my mind came not a voice, but a knowing, a one word answer, “Yes”.
In just one word, God assured me that He heard me cry, and at the sound of it, He was instantly with me!I knew I would get through this. (“And when we draw near to God, He promises to draw near to you.” – Psalm 145:18 ESV.)
God Is Our Ultimate Confidant. He Is Near, Waiting For Your Call.
When we bring our anxious questions to God, we are demonstrating that we trust Him for the answers, even though we may not understand :“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6). And when we trust God for the outcome, we are making a trade for the overflowing, transcending peace of God: “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” – Philippians 4:7.
So, remember this: God is waiting for you to draw near to Him, and when you do, He’s instantly beside you, already familiar with the cares of your heart. Whatever your doubt, whatever your pain, whatever your question, tilt your head and your heart to our Omniscient, Omnipotent God in faith, knowing He hears your voice.
Call to Him. Whether it’s comfort, hope, encouragement, clarity, or understanding, He knows exactly what you need, and He knows exactly what to do.
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