Sometimes God feels so close I can touch him and other times he feels miles away (usually when my focus has been elsewhere) and I have to stand in faith and remember he never leaves me or forsakes me. But I know in my “knower” that he IS close. Whether I feel it or not. And he hears my prayers, whether I feel like he does or not. 1 John 5:14-15 says,

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

The other night I was lying in bed thinking of things God has done in my life to bless me, and a memory stuck out from when I was in my 20s at Bible college. I want to share it because it’s such a strong reminder that God hears us.

My parents are faith-people. As far back as I can remember they’ve spoken to my sister and I about God’s love and provision. I remember one night when we were kids, my sister was telling my mom she wanted to go to Disney World and mom encouraged her to ask God for the opportunity. Then she asked if I wanted to ask God for a specific opportunity and I said I wanted to see Don Francisco live. Don Francisco is a folksy/ballad singer who has written a lot of songs from perspectives of biblical characters. He’s not everyone’s taste. My husband has a hard time getting into him and thinks the songs sound too old fashioned, but I LOVE how Don makes stories come alive. I prefer when he sings in front of a live audience with just him and his guitar. My parents had a tape of one of his live concerts that we often listened to on road trips. One of my favorite songs is the acoustic version of “He’s Alive”. The song is written from his disciple Peter’s perspective after Jesus’ crucifixion. How he denied him, saw him crucified, then resurrected. Every time I hear it, I cry and rejoice. So my sister prayed to go to Disney World, and I prayed to see Don Francisco live.

Not too long after that night, my sister was invited to go to Disney World with a school friend on a family trip. Her friend’s father was quite literally a rocket scientist with money to spend. Everything was paid for. She stayed in a princess suite, had passes to the front of the lines, and ate lunch with all the Disney characters. Dang! Why didn’t I pray to go to Disney World?! I was a kid at the time and life went on with its every-day-busyness, and the highs and lows of growing up, and I forgot all about my prayer request.

Fast forward over a decade later. I’m in my mid-twenties in my second year of Bible college living in Colorado. Before classes started the students would gather in the main sanctuary for morning worship. The bell had rung to signal the start of worship. I must have been chatting it up with someone or rushing to do something last minute because I remember I was one of the last people to enter the sanctuary. The double doors were closed. As I reached to open them, I very clearly heard God say, “Do you remember when you asked me to see Don Francisco live?” I paused. It was so clear, it felt almost audible. “Yes?” I replied, though I hadn’t thought about it in years. Then, nothing. I didn’t hear him say anything else. Well that was weird, I thought as I entered the sanctuary and found a seat. The founder of the Bible College was on the stage about to make an announcement. “We have a treat for you today”, he said in his Texas drawl. “Don Francisco is here with his wife and is going to give us a concert this morning.” My heart leapt into my throat. Apparently, his daughter went to school there too and was in the class right ahead of me!

What a beautiful concert it was! When he sang “He’s Alive”, I closed my eyes and pictured every scene he painted. When I opened them at the end of the song everyone was standing and cheering but I had remained seated with my hand on my heart just crying. I was SO thankful I got to hear it live. But then guess what?!! It gets better. Afterwards, Don walked up to me, sitting among hundreds, and said, “I just want to say that sometimes when I’m up there singing, I don’t know if I’m truly getting through to anyone the way I want to. But when I looked out at you, I could tell God was really speaking to you and it really encouraged me.” I’m not typically the type to be intimidated by anyone and I usually think fame is fleeting and unimpressive but all I could do was blush. I tried to say something witty or spiritual but all that came out was some strange sort of half-hiccup, half-giggle and then he was gone. Later, a group of us were invited to go to his daughter’s apartment (I guess one of my friends knew her?) and I got to see Don, his wife, and daughter all sing together. Unfortunately, I was still so twitterpated I couldn’t speak to him but, wow! A live concert, then he thanks me for encouraging him out of a crowd of hundreds, then I get to see a private concert with his family in this cozy little apartment?! Talk about an answer to prayer!!

What touches my heart most is how faithful God is. He hears me. Not only does he hear me, he remembers. Not only does he remember, he reminded me when I had forgotten! He is so faithful. This story is for another time but years later I prayed about something much more serious. I knew it was his will for the prayer to be answered but I had to pray for about 5 years. This prayer, I did NOT forget, and I had to stand on his promises. Sometimes it seemed like my prayers were going nowhere, but he heard, and he answered. God doesn’t hold out on us. Things may not always happen right away but if he has put something on your heart and you know it’s his will, don’t give up. Know that he hears you and that he loves you. Move in the direction he nudges you to go. I was at that Bible college because he had told me he wanted me to move to Colorado and attend. When we follow his leading, we end up in the right place at the right time and we get to walk into his blessings. How wonderful to think that the same God who made the universe hears us. The same God of Moses and Jacob, and Don Francisco heard my prayer when I was a little girl, and he held it in his heart and lead me to the answer.

If anyone wants to hear the song, here it is. It’s subjective but I find the video distracting. I like to just close my eyes and listen to the words. Don Francisco – He’s Alive – Bing video