Then the Word Came -

1 Kings 17: 7, 8
“The brook dried up…then the word of the Lord came to Elijah.”

How exciting this is to me tonight.  The provision of the Lord dried up.  It stopped and was gone.  So many Americans are suffering through the loss of their provision from God.  Jobs are gone.  And new ones hard to find. 

But look at the end of verse 8, "then the word of the Lord came...".  When our provision is gone, we have time to listen.  Sometimes it seems all we hear is silence.  Yet in the silence it is easier to hear the still small voice of the Lord God.  He doesn't shout.  Instead He speaks quietly to the heart of mankind.

Are you listening? 

So often I cry out to God for an answer to a problem I face.  And one can only ask in so many ways the same thing.  Sometimes we just need to trust that God has heard our prayer and will answer us.  I try to remember that I don't need to be the child at the dinner table saying, "Please pass the butter.  Pass the butter, please.  The butter, pass it please.  I'd really like to have some butter.  May I have some butter?  Dad, please pass the butter.  Pass the butter, please."  It becomes a bit ridiculous, doesn't it?

I read in a book once about 40 yrs ago that we only need to tell God the desire of our heart.  He loves us enough to be listening and He'll never forget.  That rang in my heart over and over.  I tried it out.  It's true.

There are occasions when we need to be the neighbor knocking to ask for bread for a visitor that has stopped by.  The Bible tells us the door was only opened because of persistence. Luke 18: 1-8 tells us the story of the unjust judge who rules for the persistent widow.  God will teach us when to knock continually and when to trust our request has been heard.

And it all comes back to "then, the word of the Lord came."   I always wonder when to be the persistent pray-er.  When do I just trust that God knows my heart?