MY PRAYER IS HEARD!

Good morning! My name is Charlotte and I am writing to help us give our first thoughts to the Lord.

In Luke the first chapter starting with verse 5 it says this:

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judah, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

AND THEY WERE BOTH RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD, WALKING IN ALL THE COMMANDMENTS AND ORDINANCES OF THE LORD BLAMELESS.

And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, AND THEY BOTH WERE NOW WELL STRICKEN IN YEARS.

AND IT CAME TO PASS, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

But (there's the but) the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: FOR YOUR PRAYER IS HEARD; and your wife Elisabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you shall have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

My mother used to have a Bible Lotto game that I played when I was child. I learned a lot about the Bible playing that game. One of the questions was 'Who was the forerunner of Christ?' The answer I learned was John the Baptist (baptiser). He was the man God sent to prepare the people for the Messiah, Jesus. This scripture is about his parents.

There are a couple of things I noticed about this scripture today.

(1) Elisabeth and Zacharias were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

At this time in history, the people were under the law, and under the law there were so many ordinances - so many ways to get tripped up. But this scripture says that this couple kept all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

He was a priest and if the priest had any sin in his life, when he made the offering for the people, God would strike him dead. They put bells on the hem of his garment and tied a rope around his ankle, so that when he went into the Holy of Holies, if his bells stopped tinkling because God had struck him dead, they could pull him out by the rope on his ankle. No one but the priest could go into the Holy of Holies.

Zacharias and Elisabeth kept all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. That is saying a whole lot right there.

(2) The second thing that I notice about this scripture was that they were well stricken in years. They were old. The angel said to Zacharias 'your prayer is heard.'

Now, I am sure that Zacharias was not praying for a child that day in the temple at his ripe old age. But, I am sure that because they did not have children, many prayers in the past had gone forth for a child, but it had never happened.

There is a scripture that talks about our prayers are kept in bottles in heaven. No prayer is in vain. Even though we may not have the answer we desire, at the time we want it, no prayer is gone without being heard of our Father.

This scripture does not says 'your prayer was heard,' it says 'your prayer is heard.' There is a difference in past tense and present tense.

God is a present tense God. He is always there, always listening, always carrying in his heart your present tense prayers. If you prayed with a sincere heart toward God, he is preparing the way for your prayer to be answered NOW in the present tense.

I know of a couple that prayed many years for a child of their own. Only once did they get pregnant and they lost that baby at the very first. It caused them many tears.

They adopted a little boy baby and he has made all the difference in their lives, and they are wonderful parents, and their child is brilliant. But, wouldn't it be something if God all of a sudden, at this age they are now, said 'YOUR PRAYER IS HEARD' and they became pregnant.

This is what happened to Elisabeth and Zacharias. They were old people. Later on in this scripture it talks about when Elisabeth got pregnant, she hid herself because she didn't want to be a reproach to men. In other words she didn't want people scoffing at her because she was pregnant and she was an old woman.

God is a present tense God.

Sometimes we don't understand why God waits so long to answer our prayers. I used to keep a diary of what I prayed, how I prayed it, and would mark the date that God answered my prayer.

A couple of those prayers were not answered short of 20 years. I remembered one time I went back to Benton and God answered one of my prayers and I came back and marked it down. The answer to my prayer was an obvious answer and it took about 15 years for the answer to come, but (there's the but) it came.

GOD DOESN'T FORGET!!!!!!!

Maybe He got behind - maybe he had to put things in place - maybe we had to be in a certain place at a certain time - maybe we had to meet God's qualifications or maybe it just wasn't the time.....who knows but God. The only thing I know is MY PRAYER IS HEARD.

YOUR PRAYER IS HEARD also. If you have prayed and prayed and the answer has not come, don't give up because God is a present tense God and YOUR PRAYER IS HEARD.

There is an expression throughout the Bible 'and it came to pass.' Nothing comes to stay. Things to come to pass.

Today's problems are tomorrow's victories.

Things come to pass. That is the reason it is so important to pray about things in your life. To let God share in your life and answer your prayers - maybe not today - maybe tomorrow - maybe 20 years from now - but when you have a present tense God, even 20 years later - YOUR PRAYER IS HEARD.

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR BEING A PRESENT TENSE GOD...FOR ALWAYS HEARING AND ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS MAYBE NOT IN OUR WAY BUT IN YOURS. THANK YOU FOR HEARING US WHEN WE CRY UNTO YOU. THANK YOU FOR LOVING US. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN (IT IS DONE)

Have a great day today!

Charlotte