Your Prayer Has Been Heard

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

Luke 1:13

Luke told us about a special couple that were very integral to the ministry of Jesus – Zachariah and Elizabeth. The Bible tells us that “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old” Luke 1:6-7

It almost looks contradictory to see these two statements side by side ‘they were righteous in the sight of God’ followed by ‘..but they were childless’. It sounds like saying the most intelligent and dedicated student in the class has the worst result, how do you explain that? Worse still, Luke says “…and they were both very old”! 

So, if I were to summarise this predicament, it is that two people from the lineage of priests, chose to serve God faithfully from their youth and in response He refused to bless them with a child till they were old and without hope; yet, they never stopped loving God and serving him!

As part of his commitment to God’s service despite his condition, “…when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense”. He gladly took the opportunity and off he went to the presence of the Lord. 

While Zechariah was burning incense in the temple “…an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John (Luke 1:11-13) 

It is interesting that the angel didn’t say that ‘God will answer your prayer’ because that would mean he is just about to consider the request. He didn’t say ‘his prayer has been answered’ either because there was no answer as far as Zachariah’s eyes could see. But the angel said that his prayer ‘ has been heard’. In other words, God heard their prayers all along and even though he had not answered in the way they expected, He wanted them to know that He heard them. 

Our God is a prayer answering God, 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him”. The fact that we have not seen the kind of answer we’re expecting doesn’t change the fact that when we pray God hears us. 

Don’t be discouraged, keep on praying, God is listening. 

PRAYER

Dear God, I stand before you with confidence, knowing that you hear my prayers. Grant me the strength to hold onto this truth, especially when answers seem elusive. In the midst of waiting, help me to trust in your perfect timing, believing that you are working all things for my good. Amen.