Do God Hear Your Prayers

                                                       When The Door Slams

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.   Deuteronomy 8:3-5 NIV 

        As the people of Israel journeyed through the barren wilderness strewn with rocks and sand, we can hardly blame them for worrying about what they would eat, drink, or wear while confined to such a bleak location. Gathering enough food for an entire nation in a land without set-aside fields for agriculture, irrigation, or pasture became a daily struggle for existence. How would such a large people survive forty hours, let alone forty years, in such a hostile wilderness?

        While the Israelites surely considered the wilderness the last place they wanted to be, the Lord wasted no time using it for a good purpose. The wilderness was the place to learn complete dependence on God. It is almost counterintuitive for us to read this. Why in the world would God remove their reliable food supply in order to demonstrate that they needed more than bread in order to survive?

        In part,  Lord used a difficult situation to teach His people complete and total dependence. They could not do anything clever or innovative enough to provide for themselves. Their only way out was prayer, and their only resource was God's timely help. Did God hear their prayers? Would God provide? It took a difficult journey through the wilderness to find out. 

        Think about this: Most of us have more blessings than we can count, yet we can still find reasons to complain about the minor frustrations of everyday life. To do so, of course, is not only shortsighted, but it is also a serious roadblock on the path to spiritual abundance. So the next time you are tempted to complain about the inevitable frustrations of everyday living, don't do it. Make it a practice to count your blessings, nor your hardships.    

     Thanksgiving: You raised up Pharaoh for this purpose, that You might show him Your power and that Your name might be proclaimed through all the earth (Exodus 9:16).

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                Never Rest Ministries