Someone who listens

It’s a wonderful thing to know that someone is listening. We know that in many areas of life.

It’s true in Radio. I’m sure Ray will be encouraged to know that you are listening. Why not send him an email or a message just to encourage him and thank him for what he’s doing her on HCRfm. There are two kinds of feedback in radio. Noisy screechy sounds when the technology goes wrong and you hear feedback in that sense. But there’s a good kind of feedback when listeners get in touch and show that they are appreciating what they hear.

It’s true in sharing problems. It’s great when someone is listening. As the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes just having a listening ear to hear you out can put a lot of problems in perspective.

And just in human relationships. Ignoring your partner is a sure way of hitting problems. It’s amazing sometimes how selective our hearing and listening can be. When the wife calls you to help with a job away from the TV, a lot of British men suddenly go partially deaf. But when food or beer is involved, their hearing is crystal clear!

So Radio, problem sharing, relationships all depend on careful listening. But can I tell you the most amazing news in this Thought for the Day for these troubled times? God listens.

He listens to every prayer prayed around the world every second. No-one is too unimportant or too unworthy to be listened to by God, and Jesus has opened the way for us to speak to God.

In our church a couple of weeks ago we had a special zoom service for the kids, it’s on our website if you’d like to listen. We looked at a time when King David was on the run and had to shelter in a cave to get away from some nasty enemies. Forget the Loch Ness monster, David was facing three far worse NESS monsters:

• Weariness- because he was run down and rather depressed.
• Loneliness- because he was utterly on his own.
• Unfairness- because people were after him despite his innocence.

But what did he do? He cried out to God. And we can do that ourselves if we are facing any of those loch ness monsters. And in fact David’s prayers were answered eventually, and he became King of Israel.

There is someone who listens. In fact Jesus Christ himself taught us that we can pray to him, and through him we can call God ABBA Father.

So I don’t know if you’ve ever prayed, but perhaps lockdown would be a great time to pick up the habit. Perhaps at the end of the day as you go to bed, perhaps before a meal or at the start of the day.

Tell Jesus how you feel. Tell him how you need help. Ask him for protection. Ask him for forgiveness. Ask him to help you with the financial struggles that you are facing. Ask him to send someone who can help.

Who knows how he might answer. There is someone who listens.