God hearkened

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah. Judges 13:9

It is easy to pass over sentences like this and to miss the weightiness of its implications. It tells us that God hears the prayers of men and women. He listens to their voice and hearkens to their cry (cf. Ps. 5:2). Our words are not lost in space nor do they bounce off an impenetrable heaven. When the children of God pray to the God who is their Father, he listens. Their words are heard. Their cries move his heart and his hand. And though we must always put in the correct qualifications - we must pray in the name of Christ according to God's will and glory and not for sinful and selfish reasons - neither must we so qualify the Scriptures that we lose the hope-filling and joy-sustaining reality that those who ask will receive, those who seek will find, and to those who knock it will be opened (Mt. 7:7-8).

So let us be men and women of prayer. Let us come to the throne of grace expectantly and confidently (Heb. 4:15-16). Christ our Lord and Savior has opened the way for us, has given us real access to God (Eph. 2:18). Prayer is not a burden nor a religious exercise by which we earn Brownie points to get into heaven. Rather, prayer is the immeasurable privilege that God's children have to go immediately into his presence and gain his ear. God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; if you are in Christ by faith he will hearken to your voice too. What do you need to bring before your Father right now?