Day 115: He hears you

Today I want to share the message Pastor Joel A'Bell preached on in the evening service.

Psalms 34:15 says "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry." There's a lot of Christians that believe that when they pray, they think that God might not hear them. But that scripture should be enough evidence that He hears you. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus speaks out, saying "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? (which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)" Normally when I read this verse, what came across to me was that Jesus was just speaking out as if He thought God truly was forsaking Him; in all honesty, that's what I thought. Now I know for sure I was just dumb for thinking that. Allow me to explain: God clearly said in Scripture that He doesn't forsake Himself; Jesus wasn't doubting His Father at all. In fact I want YOU, the person reading this, to find a Bible and take a look at Psalms 22. I want you to read through it, and don't read further from here until you've read the whole thing, okay? Go. Seriously, read it. Now. Just do it.


So did you read it? What do you think about that?

How amazing is that?

Even at the point of His death, Jesus spoke the Word to the people observing. Now why would that be significant? Because, as you may know, people back then didn't have chapters and verses in their Bibles. Pretty much what they would do is use the first verse of a passage to determine what it was and where it was; people memorized Scripture because the only access to Scripture was at the synagogue. So for Jesus to quote the very first verse of Psalms 22, the people then understood what was going on; especially the Pharisees. These guys studied the Bible. That was their responsibility as the religious authority of the land. I wonder how they felt when they thought of Psalms 22 as Jesus was hanging on that cross. So when you put it together, Jesus wasn't doubting God; He was just revealing the fulfillment of prophecy to those watching. That gives the perfect explanation as to why the soldier said, "Surely this was the Son of God." Wow.. Selah.

Do you ever feel like God doesn't listen to your prayers? That no matter what you do, that He doesn't really respond? Well, I wish to encourage you that He does listen. "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers them from them all." - Psalms 34:17-19. I feel this Scripture was specially intended for the Garcia family; so if you're reading this Garcias, focus on these verses. God is here, and He isn't going anywhere. I know it's tough since you lost someone dear to your heart, but the way I've learned to see it is that God needed her beside Him in the Heavens. You can rejoice that she is in her true home. Just watch over each other; the family is one of the most powerful strengths in the world. God doesn't want to see a family divided; He wants to be the very glue that keeps you all together. Be strong, and do not be discouraged for too long. The Lord is with you wherever you go.

God is amazing; that's what I got out of today. Need I say more? I don't think so.

God bless,
Steven