Do you think God doesn’t listen to you? Maybe you’re not listening to God.
Do you think He’s not answering your prayers or helping you with your problems? Maybe His answers just can’t get through all the noise and obstacles you’ve created.
I find my car is a good place to pray. I often work very early in the morning. It’s dark and quiet and there’s little traffic. It’s peaceful. It isn’t a long drive to work, but it’s long enough for my prayer ritual.
The drive home is very different. The sun’s usually out. There’s lots more traffic. I watch the inattentive drivers. They text at the stoplights. Their heads are down and they miss when the light turns green to the annoyance of everyone behind them. Or they’re talking on a cell phone. Music is blasting from their speakers.
Not that I never listen to music when I drive, but often I turn my radio off. Rarely am I on my phone. I like the quiet. I think that’s an opening for God to give me ideas. It could be any random thing. A kindness I could do. A reminder of something I forgot. Writing inspiration. Another nudge to do something I’ve been resisting.
There are so many sad and frustrated people out there in the world. I’m sure they think God has abandoned them or that He doesn’t listen to or care about them. But maybe it’s just that they’ve filled up their world with so much noise and activity that He can’t get through to them.
We’ve created a go-go-go environment for ourselves. If we aren’t doing something every waking moment, we’re doing something wrong and we feel guilty. We fill our lives with cell phones and video games and music and television. Work and school and a million other activities that fill up our days and exhaust our energy. And maybe, for some of us, we fill up our lives with church-related activities. But are we really creating a relationship with God? When do we talk to Him? When do we listen to Him?
