God Hears Our Prayer

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Opening Prayer

Lord Jesus, in Your presence may I know who I am, whose I am, and why I am here.

Read LUKE 1:11-25

^[11] Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ^[12] When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ^[13] But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ^[14] He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ^[15] for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ^[16] He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ^[17] And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” ^[18] Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” ^[19] The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ^[20] And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” ^[21] Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ^[22] When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. ^[23] When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ^[24] After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ^[25] “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Meditate

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (Jas. 5:16).

Think Further

Zechariah was given the task of burning the incense at the altar. During this momentous event, an angel appeared to him and, surprisingly, this troubled him. He became afraid, apparently not an unusual response at an angel sighting. We are told by Luke that the shepherds who were visited by an angel were “terrified” (Luke 2:9). By contrast with the shepherds, Zechariah was a godly man, and you might think he would be delighted to be visited by an angel. The angel’s message was, “Your prayer [for a child] has been heard” (13)! Zechariah apparently didn’t believe the prayer could be answered and had been praying without conviction (20).

But God does answer the couple’s prayer. He acts dynamically and later on a son, John, is born. As with Samuel, John will be a great Spirit-filled Nazarite prophet (Num. 6:1-21; Judg. 13:4-14), who will turn Israel back to Yahweh. Elizabeth’s response is ideal–she is filled with gratitude to God. Apparently she had been praying with greater faith than Zechariah!

God hears his people’s prayers. He hears the prayers of the righteous. Although no one is yet aware, as at the Exodus (Exod. 2:23), Israel’s 400-year yearnings are now being answered in this embryo. Elizabeth’s prayers have been heard; God is responding. He always does, in his time, but we often only see by looking back.

This quote sums it up so well: “If an angel said to you, ‘Your prayer is heard,’ what would that mean for you? You may have given up believing that God could bring it about. Whatever it is that might seem to be too good to be true for you, remember Zechariah” (Bruce Larson, 1925-2008).

Apply

When was the last time you doubted God? What was the cause of your doubt?

Closing prayer

Lord, forgive my doubts and renew my faith and trust in You. I rejoice that with You all things are possible!

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