Daily Devotion - Tuesday, April 5

Are You Listening?

“Listen to the sound of my cry O my God,
for to you I pray.”
--From Psalm 5

This week we are going to work through a prayer by Kenneth Phifer entitled, “I Need to Listen”. The verse of the Psalm introduces us to a person who desires that God hear his/her prayers. The theme of Rev. Phifer’s prayer is for God to empower him to be a better listener. It seems these two themes are quite congruent. Let’s become better listeners through a prayer to the Great Listener, our Holy God.

“Lord, this is a sobbing world.
There are voices filled with echoes of hurt and pain everywhere.
There are voices almost choked out by tears
and voices that come out of aching.
There are hollow voices, empty voices.
I would rather not hear them—
the voices of hungry children
and of sorrowing women
and of desperate men.
But they are all around me.
Enable me to hear them, I pray, and in the hearing
Be able to be near my brothers and sisters.”

Have a blessed day as you listen.

--Ben Keckler
04.05.11