No Answer?

Wait until after 5 p.m.--when the business day is done. Grab a phone book and flip through the yellow pages. Select some phone numbers of places you've been or business you've visited such as your dentist's office or the bank--places that are closed in the evening. Give one of these numbers a call (if you know no one will pick up).

What happened? Did the phone ring and ring? Did you reach a voice mail message or answering service?

"We're closed... nobody is in the office... please call back during normal business hours..." Do you ever feel like a machine is telling you, "Hey, dummy, did you really think anyone would answer?"

What if you really needed to talk to a friend and tried to call, but your friend didn't answer? What if there was an emergency and you dialed 911... and no one answered? What if you got a message saying, "We're closed"?

Have you ever felt that way about God? Like you're trying to connect but you just can't get through? Like you're talking to thin air? Does God ever seem far away, remote and silent? Closed?

Think of one specific time you tried to pray but it felt like a one-sided conversation.

No look through the phone book again--find a 24-hour grocery store, pharmacy, or hospital. Would they be open if you called? What if you called at 3 a.m. Or 7:30?

"For the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer..." (1 Peter 3:12a)

Read this again, aloud. GOd is always attentive to your prayer. He is available any hour, any minute, any second. He is never closed. He is never too busy. No matter how you may feel sometimes, He's never unavailable.

Give Him a call. Talk to Him right now. Tell Him about your day. He's listening. Really listening.

Father, I know You hear, that Your eyes are toward me and Your ears hear me even when I don't speak aloud. Remind me today of Your closeness, love, and grace.