While waiting for a potentially devastating scan result recently, I found myself meditating on Psalm 40:1: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.”
An image came to my mind of a child lost in a busy area—perhaps a playground. He looks around for his father and cries out to him. Immediately, the father inclines toward him—that is, leans toward the familiar voice and cry. I can picture the reunion and the assurance the child enjoys that his father will always hear his cry. Instead of turning away or showing disdain or disinterest, he leans in toward the child.
I once had a friend say that she would pray that God’s will be done regarding my diagnosis, but she couldn’t ask for my healing—because what of all of the others who will not be healed? This baffled me, and I thought, “You could at least ask!”
Do we really think God isn’t aware of our innermost longings? I believe he senses them, hears them, one by one, and doesn’t turn away. If we express our anguish in a difficult situation, do you think Our Father, the good, good father, will turn away? No. Instead, like any human father modeled after him, he will lean in, and reach out to comfort his child.
Not every prayer will be answered the way we long for it to be answered. But pray your heart, friends. Know he hears you. He is leaning in right now, responding to your cry.
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