Are you listening, God?
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
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Answer me quickly, for I am in trouble (Psalm 69:17b).
Read Psalm 69:7–10,(11–15)16–18
In 1963, Jimmy Little recorded a song called ‘The Royal Telephone’. The words of the chorus are:
Telephone to glory, oh, what joy divine!
I can feel the current moving on the line.
Made by God the Father for his very own,
You may talk to Jesus on this royal telephone.*
It’s a nice image, isn’t it? I remember back then picturing Jesus at the ready, waiting for that royal telephone to ring so he could pick it up, listen to whatever I had to say, and then he’d get busy fixing whatever was bothering me at the time.
How blessed we are to be able to talk to God any time, any day, anywhere, in any language or in no language. We don’t even have to formulate words.
I love to pray. It’s so good to be able to share whatever is on my heart and know that my heartaches and joys are shared – that someone cares about what is happening to me and that someone is bigger than me or anything that can happen to me.
How do we know our prayers have been answered? It’s not as if God sends an answer via a messenger angel. Sometimes, prayers are answered in an obvious manner – the cure of a disease or the easing of a situation. Sometimes, the answer comes from friends or strangers reaching out with words of comfort or wisdom. At other times, it may be a sense of inner peace, comfort and strength that enables us to keep going, knowing that we are not alone.
We have a prayer group at my church – actually, it is two: an online group and an in-person group. Prayer requests are shared, and it is wonderful to know that we’re not alone in taking these requests to our gracious, generous, attentive God. I also like that I can ask people if it’s okay for my prayer group to pray for them. No-one has said no to that request. It’s easy to say, ‘I’m off to my prayer group. Do you have any requests?’ And often, they do.
And back to that royal telephone. Maybe, it is an even better metaphor for our prayers now, given the constant presence of our phones, the information they contain, and the control they have over our lives. May your prayers provide the comfort and strength you need today and every day – you can pray even when you’ve left your phone at home!
Patient God, thank you for always hearing and answering our prayers. Thank you for the surprises you provide. Help us to be patient when things don’t turn out as we hope and plan and trust that all things will work together for our good – no matter what happens. Amen.
*Frederick M Lehmann (1868–1953), ‘The Royal Telephone’ (public domain), made popular in Australia by Jimmy Little
Colleen Fitzpatrick is a mother of two, grandmother of three and godmother of four. She is allegedly retired and lives in Adelaide. Colleen trained as a social worker, and after working in the foster care program at Lutheran Community Care in South Australia, she became the director and served in that role for 13 years. Colleen serves on a number of boards and committees within the LCA and the wider community.
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