Daily Devotion - Wednesday, January 19

Can You Hear Me Now?
Devotional Reflections on prayer, with thanks to Verizon Wireless

“To you, O Lord, I call;
my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.”
--An ancient Hebrew song (Psalm 28:1)

NOTE: You may remember the Verizon Wireless commercial with the young man walking into all sorts of places to check on the “power supply” for communicating with “the person” on the other end of the line. This week we dare to explore that question as we look at another wireless connection.

One day, not all that long ago, I faced a most challenging day. A funeral for a 16-year old young man who died from a cancer; a support group for cancer survivors, knowing that three of them decided to participate in hospice care since our last meeting; visitation requests as per the normal day; and spending a few minutes with our new associates. There was a lot on the schedule that day and it felt pretty overwhelming. My insides echoed the writer of the old Hebrew psalm. Here is the prayer that I wrote for that day:

Holy God,
I know you are strong and willing to grant me strength for my day.
Help me to feel your presence and trust in your promises.
I really do believe, for I have felt your amazing grace.
Since you already know about the challenges of my day,
forgive me for checking, but
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

--Ben Keckler
01.19.11