by Victoria Heinecke

God’s perfect response in his perfect time.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.  

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7 English Standard Version (ESV)

I seldom talk on a telephone. However, I depend on text messaging to communicate plans with friends and colleagues. Most of the time, when we communicate, the texts are sent promptly. Plans are made, feelings are expressed, and relationship ties are maintained.

I have a couple of friends, however, who are not as prompt about replying. I’ll send a text, asking to confirm a time for us to get together, and I might get a reply hours, or a day, later. The world still goes on, but sometimes the silence can be bothersome or worrying.

Talking to God on a regular basis, at first, can feel like waiting for a reply to a text. A friend, or loved, one is in the hospital…we pray and ask God for healing, and many times our loved one’s issues are resolved and they recover. At other times, we ask for something, the response seems to be silence, and we can wonder why God doesn’t seem to hear us?

Sometimes our text to him boils down to saying, “Lord, give me patience – NOW!”

Jesus assures us, in this verse, that God hears us when we pray. The response is not always a direct answer, “ask” is not the antecedent to “it.” The reply doesn’t always come with a loud fanfare.

His response may not be an intervention or a physical resolution. It may be a revelation of his plan, that still, small voice (1 Kings 19) when we get a glimpse that the circumstances in our life are part of his perfect plan.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 ESV

Lord, help me slow down so that I may hear your voice. Speak, for I am listening. Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado