Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12 AMP
This is indeed one of the great privileges of salvation. The gift of having all hindrances removed and broken fellowship with God restored. To have God hear your voice, listen to, give attention to and answer your prayers. However, before you hastily soothe your ears with the hope that God will listen to you, I would like to point out some of the components of this promise. Without these components, this wonderful promise may never materialise.
The first, and foundational, component of this promise is that you must call upon the Lord. You must acknowledge that God is all you need and rely totally on Him for help. In days of trouble and gloom, you can call. When you need guidance and direction, you can call. Even when all is well and peaceful, you can raise your voice to Him in thanksgiving.
Note that God expects that whoever will call on Him must not call on anyone else but only Him. You cannot call upon the Lord and be busy making alternative calls to someone else. If you will call upon the Lord, then you must call on Him alone.
This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’
Jeremiah 33:2-3 MSG
The next component I would like us to consider is that you don’t call on the Lord and then stay away from Him. Instead, you call and come unto Him. So, we read in Joel 2:12 “…turn and keep coming to me with all your heart.” If you are away from God – far away in the land of slavery to self and sin, you must be ready to leave your sinful life behind you as you press on toward the Father.
Consider the prodigal son in Luke 15. If he had remained in his misery and called to his father probably by the means of a letter, he most likely would have died in that situation without any solution. How can you call on God for help while you relax on the laps of a strange woman? You desire God to deliver you from pornography, yet you continue to visit explicit websites and indulge in explicit-rated movies as your favorites. How can God possibly help you when have not yet broken the tie with your partners in sin?
For God to give attention and answers to your prayers, you must turn away from sin and come to Him. “So, he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him [fervently]” (Luke 15:20 AMPC). You also must get up and come to your own Father, and He will hear and answer your prayers. Meanwhile, I would like to note that like the father of the prodigal son, God is on the lookout for the repentant who would return to Him. He’s waiting for you with an open arms.
While many may get the previous components right, some often overlook a crucial one. They fail to pray to God. It is possible to lament and complain to the Lord, but until you ask Him to help you, you have only wasted your time. Prayer is such a critical lifestyle in our walk with God. The significance is so much that even the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. All of these boxes must be ticked before a man can experience and enjoy the benefits of the promise.
To unlock the power of prayer and experience the fulfilment of God’s promise, remember to call upon the Lord with undivided devotion. Forsake sin and approach Him wholeheartedly, and above all, pray earnestly. With these components aligned, you can fully embrace the privilege of divine attention. And also experience the transformative impact of heartfelt prayer in your life.
