Tiny prayers

December 12, 2006

By Greg Ebie

Before the kids go off to school each morning we pray together. When they are running late, I am sometimes frustrated with the routine repetition of their prayer, but God isn’t. God listens as they each ask for protection on the way to school, to make it there on time, and for help with a quiz or test. And God has been answering their prayers; no accidents, they have not been tardy, and they are getting good grades.

Perhaps you are tempted to believe God does not have time for what you think are small or insignificant prayers. Surely God has His hands full with more important concerns around the world than to see to it we have a green light so we are not late to work. Should we even bother God with such little things?

No prayer is trivial to God. He is ready and willing to listen to us. He is our Heavenly Father, and He loves His children.

While God hears our “mundane prayers” and answers even these requests, there are some prayers God won’t listen too.

“If I had been cozy with evil,
the Lord would never have listened.
But he most surely did listen,
he came on the double when he heard my prayer.
Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,
he stayed with me, loyal in his love.”

(Psalm 66:18-20, The Message)

When we hold onto sin God turns a deaf ear to our prayers. God’s ear tunes in to our prayer to hear if we are ready to confess our sin, to say, “Lord, forgive me of even my hidden sins; may nothing separate me from You.”

When we stubbornly go through the motions of prayer and don’t ask for God to cleanse our hearts of sin, God stops listening.

God takes the time to listen to even the smallest request to show us how much He loves us and to teach us no sin is too small to bring to Him for forgiveness. Small, unconfessed sins have a way of growing until they become a wall separating us from God. The next time you make some small request for God to help you, pause and ask Him to forgive you … even for the little hidden sins. Make repentance a daily habit.

D. Greg Ebie is senior pastor of Praise Assembly of God in Garrettsville, Ohio, and an author of Daily Bread devotionals.