God Hears Our Prayers

2 Chronicles Chapter 6

   A few days ago I was reading in 2 Chronicles and noticed something that warmed my heart. Solomon had finished building the temple and had a dedication celebration for it. He prayed a prayer of dedication to the Lord asking that prayers spoken in this temple be heard. He said: “Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You: that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplication of Your servant of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.

   Solomon then goes on bringing up different possibilities, If anyone sins against his neighbor, then hear…if your people are defeated before an enemy, then hear…when the heavens are shut up, then hear…when there is famine, then hear, and on and on asking God to hear in all these instances, then he says, “Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ear be attentive to the prayer made in this place.

   Then, reading on into chapter 7 God confirms His acceptance of the temple by way of fire coming down from heaven and consuming the offerings and sacrifices. It says that the glory of the Lord filled the temple. It must have been an overwhelmingly wonderful thing to witness. After this the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and said this to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

   These are verses that are quite familiar.  They are verses that we think about often as we think about the condition of our country, but it is what the Lord said next that warmed my heart. He then said, “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.

   Solomon prayed for God’s eyes to be open and His ears attentive. God answered him specifically My eyes will be open and My ears attentive.

   My heart is warmed because I know that God hears the details of my prayers just as he heard Solomon's prayer. This week I have been picking peaches from my two little peach trees. They are loaded with scrumptious sweet peaches. I’ve been canning a few, freezing a few, and sharing a lot.

   There is a story behind these peach trees that reminds me that just like Solomon’s prayer, God hears my prayers also. The first year I planted them they were just large twigs sticking out of the ground with a few branches. I babied them and worried over them like a mother hen.

    It was my husband Vic’s job to weed eat around the house and trees. In the past many of my trees have suffered and died at the hands of a not very careful weed eater. Sure enough, one day there it was... a huge gash from the weed eater line. I just knew that my little tree was going to die like other trees that had suffered from the same fate. Anger doesn’t adequately describe what I was feeling. It was a bit beyond anger. I know Vic felt bad, but I was still angry. I sat down by the trees and prayed. I said something like this, “Lord, I don’t want to be this angry at Vic, but I am. Would you please heal my tree so that I won’t be angry at him?” I then let go of the anger, forgave Vic and trusted that God would take care of my tree. God took very good care of my tree. This is the first year to harvest peaches from my two trees. Both trees have an equal bountiful supply of luscious fruit.

   God’s eyes and ears are open to the concerns of His children. I love being His child. If you are not His child, you can be.  Watching over and healing my tree was a small thing for God.  He also watches over me, my family, my church family, my friends, I have seen His hand of healing in many ways.  I know He hears my prayers.