Is God Listening?上帝在聆听吗？

[Dexu Xia]

If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14

When I served on my church’s congregational care team, one of my duties was to pray over the requests penciled on pew cards during the services. For an aunt’s health. For a couple’s finances. For a grandson’s discovery of God. Rarely did I hear the results of these prayers. Most were anonymous, and I had no way of knowing how God had responded. I confess that at times I wondered, Was He really listening? Was anything happening as a result of my prayers?

Over our lifetimes, most of us question, “Does God hear me?” I remember my own Hannah-like pleas for a child that went unanswered for years. And there were my pleas that my father find faith, yet he died without any apparent confession.

Etched across the millennia are myriad instances of God’s ear bending to listen: to Israel’s groans under slavery (Exodus 2:24); to Moses on Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 9:19); to Joshua at Gilgal (Joshua 10:14); to Hannah’s prayers for a child (1 Samuel 1:10–17); to David crying out for deliverance from Saul (2 Samuel 22:7).

First John 5:14 crescendos, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” The word for “hears” means to pay attention and to respond on the basis of having heard.

As we go to God today, may we have the confidence of His listening ear spanning the history of His people. He hears our pleas.

Pause to consider what you’ve most recently asked of God. What motivated you to ask? How can you know that God hears you?

Father, I come asking and trusting You to hear me because You say that You do

 我们若照祂的旨意求什么，祂就听我们。—约翰一书5章14节

当我参与教会的关怀会友事工时，我会为代祷卡上的事项祷告，包括求上帝改善某位阿姨的健康情况、某对夫妇的财务状况，以及让某人的孙儿能认识上帝。但我很少听到代祷之后的结果，因为代祷卡大多是匿名的，所以我无从得知上帝如何回应。我承认有时我真想知道，上帝真的听了我的祷告吗？我的代祷是否带来一些改变？

或许，我们有时也会问﹕“上帝在听我祷告吗？”我曾像哈拿一样向上帝求子，但多年来未得回应；我也祈求上帝让父亲能归信耶稣，但在他离世时却没有表明是否愿意信主。

然而千百年来，有许多上帝侧耳聆听祂子民祷告的例子：以色列民被奴役的哀声（出埃及记2章24节）；摩西在西奈山上的哀求（申命记9章19节）；约书亚在吉甲的祷告（约书亚记10章14节）；哈拿向上帝求子（撒母耳记上1章10-17节）；大卫求上帝救他逃离扫罗的追杀（撒母耳记下22章7节）。约翰一书5章14节进一步强调：“我们若照祂的旨意求什么，祂就听我们。”听的意思是专心听并有所回应。

今天当我们向上帝祷告时，愿我们能满心相信，即使跨越数千年，上帝仍会聆听祂子民的祷告，祂会听我们的呼求！

认真思考一下，你最近向上帝祈求的一些事。
是什么驱使你祷告？你怎么知道上帝听你的祷告？

天父，我向祢呼求，并相信祢会垂听，
因为这是祢的应许。