“Out
of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
O Lord hear
my voice.
Let
your ears be attentive
To my cry for mercy. Psalm 130:1-2 (NIV)
In an insightful book on Prayer,
Pierre Wolf deals with the question some of us have expressed or thought while
waiting for our prayers to be answered, “Is God Deaf?”* This question is not only confounded
adults, even children echo doubts. In a delightful book the authors published
actual letters written by young children to God. ** Here are a few
examples:
“Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother, but what I
prayed for was a pony.”
“Dear God, How come You
did all those miracles in the olden days and don’t do any now?’
Sometimes we attempt to
bargain with God much like in this child’s letter: “Dear God, if You give me a genie lamp like Aladdin’s, I will give you
anything you want except my money or my chess set.”
How
could God resist such a deal? Is God
slow as well as deaf? St. Matthew
provides insight into our queries:
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if asks for a fish, will give him a
snake? If you then, thought you are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?” Matthew 6:9-11 (NIV) Are we asking for snakes rather than
that is good for us? God not only
listens but He decides.
*Is God Deaf? By Pierre Wolff, Cowley
Publications,
** Children’s Letters to God by Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall, Workman Publishing,