Do you ever feel like your prayers aren’t heard? Like the words pour from your mouth and float out into space, never heard and your needs never materialize? Is God in your mind far away, impersonal, and uncaring? Well, dear one, that couldn’t be farther from the truth!

There are so many times I have prayed, and those prayers have been answered. But I also understand what it feels like to pour out my heart to God and still feel like He is on the other side of the universe, too far away to hear my cries. I think that is Satan, nudging our doubt, stoking our fears and insecurities, so that our doubt and fear will grow. He doesn’t want us to let go and lay those fears at the feet of Jesus.

Let me tell you a story of answered prayers. A number of years ago, my husband and I had been through several years of difficulty with a prodigal child. We had booked a cruise to Alaska for our 25^th anniversary.  Just a week before our cruise, our child had returned home. That in itself is a huge praise, but that was just the beginning of the story of how God hears and encourages us.

We were exhausted! I remember the first day of the cruise, my husband slept until noon. When we arrived in Juneau Alaska, we had booked a tour that included whale watching. I had personally never seen a whale, except at Sea World, and that doesn’t count. I wanted to see a whale in the most desperate of ways. The day was overcast and windy, and the coldest day of our trip. Most of the people on the small boat tour were inside the main cabin, but I stood out on the fantail, watching and waiting. I remember standing there, my hood pulled up to break the cold sting of the wind, and I prayed. “God, please let me see a whale.” My husband stood near me and all of a sudden, he said, “Look at the birds. Something is going to happen!” There were a bunch of seagulls hovering over the surface of the water and all of a sudden, several humpback whales came out of the water with their mouths open, grabbing all the fish! Now, if you were to go back and watch the video I was taking, you would hear my screams, over everything else! I was so excited! The tour guide on the boat, spoke with excitement over the speaker, explaining that we just witnessed the rarest of occurrences. The whales were “bubble net feeding”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z00G0RxeSP0

You might think this was a coincidence, after all, I was on a whale watching tour. But soon after that, a whale leapt out of the water, breaching the surface in a display of God’s grace and magnificence. You couldn’t miss the excitement of the guide over the speaker, as she explained, we had just witnessed the two rarest moments you NEVER see on a whale watching tour. After all these years, I still carry that moment in my heart, a little personal note from God Almighty, whispering in my ear as I stood outside in that cold wind… “Rhonda, I see you. I hear you. I love you.”

I needed that moment so badly. I have told this story many times in the ten years since it happened, sharing how God heard the prayers of a woman, exhausted and desperate. He knew that that little moment would spark a fire in my heart and bring so much encouragement to my soul.

David felt the same way in many of the Psalms he wrote. In Psalm 27, he pours out his heart to God.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, “Seek my face.”
Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Even as David poured out his heart, crying out to God for help, he trusted in God’s goodness. He believed and trusted that he would see the goodness of God in the answer to his prayers, despite all the obstacles that surrounded him. Like the whale breaching the water in a magnificent show of power and grace, we can trust that God hears our prayers and is able to break through and bring us deliverance and mercy. As David proclaimed in his Psalm of lament, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage.” Your prayers are not bouncing out in space, unheard, and lost forever. The God who created you, the God who knows you, the God who loves you…He hears you and he will answer. He wants you to trust Him. So, dear friend, be encouraged to let go of your burden today. You have not been abandoned. God hears you and He loves you.