KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every
Chapter
Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016
Chapters: Psalms 81-85
Message: God Is Listening And Does Answer

Hello
My Friend,

There is nothing more exciting than seeing God
answer a prayer, big or small, you realized that God heard you and
gave you exactly what you have been asking. I always think of God
answering prayer like a traffic light; red, stop asking for that,
yellow, slow down and wait, green, go, it is all yours. Sometimes we
can ask, and ask, and ask God for something and seem like He does not
hear or answer, it is like trying to reach someone on the phone, but
they are not answering the call. Well, God does answer the call, He
may not always speak to us on the other end, but He is listening,
after He is done listening to everything we have to say, then He will
speak. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee,
and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
- Jeremiah 33:3.

“Call unto me,”
There are several ways we can call out to God in prayer, praise,
thanks, confession, supplication, but the keys to Him hearing us is
one, making sure we are saved, and two, that we serve only Him.
Thousands of people pray to who they think is God, but it is not Him,
unless they know Jesus Christ personally as their Saviour, they do
not know God. To those who are praying that do not know Christ, get
rid of the strange god and turn to the only living God. “Hear,
O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt
hearken unto me; There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt
thou worship any strange god. I am the LORD thy God, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill
it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would
none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they
walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto
me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued
their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.”
- Psalm 81:8-14.

“open thy mouth
wide,” the only way we can get God to do anything for Him is
to ask Him for it. Want salvation? Ask. Want a job? Ask. Want
healing? Ask. Want forgiveness? Ask. Want freedom? Ask. God always
answers our prayers, they may not be the outcome we expect, but He
hears and He answers every prayer. Sometimes He tells us no. Why? It
could be several reasons, what we see with our eyes right now, God
sees before us and knows exactly what will happen if He gave it to
us. Keep in mind that when someone dies it is not God saying no to
healing that person, He just decided their healing was by taking them
home to Him. Our human minds cannot comprehend God’s reasoning
behind illness and death, but we can learn, grow, and find amazing
blessings out of the worse circumstances when we take it all to God.
“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” -
Luke 11:9,10.

“and he that seeketh
findeth;” Quite often the reason we are not getting what we
are asking is because we do not know what we are seeking. Okay, we
have fickled minds, one minute we want something the next another.
You see, more often than we realize we change the requests according
to what we are going through. Think about it, you have a bill due in
a week, and instead of trusting God to provide the money His way, you
sell something precious. That is not trusting God, but taking things
into our own hands, and when we take things into our own hands that
is when affliction comes. God uses affliction to get us back to
praying by faith, and relying solely upon Him to give us the things
we need, and it also is used to bring people to Him.

“A
Song or Psalm of Asaph. Keep not
thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have
lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy
people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come,
and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel
may be no more in remembrance. So persecute them with thy tempest,
and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame;
that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and
troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That
men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most
high over all the earth.” - Psalm 83:1-4,15-18.

“that
they may seek thy name,” Do you realize that the majority of
the time God waits to give us things because He is waiting on other
people? How many people pray to God unless there is some kind of
trouble? That is most of the world. The truth is, we all have a
problem keeping up with prayer when we have everything we want, so
God gets our attention by affliction. This is not God being cruel, it
is Him trying to get us to rely solely upon Him, and seeking only Him
for the things we need. “Ye ask, and receive
not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
- James 4:3.

Many times when we pray to God He is speaking
to us, the problem is that we are the ones not listening. To hear God
we must open our ears, heart, mind, eyes, and spirit. Only when we
give God our all can we hear Him speaking. Cry out to God, and He
will hear you and speak. “My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even
thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they
that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give
grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in
thee.” - Psalm 84:2-4,9-12.

“my
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” There is
something comforting and uplifting when we cry out to God, and to be
honest, He speaks to us more than we think, it is only when we cry
out to Him that we can hear Him. More often than we want to admit,
our praying can get repetitious, meaning have no meaning or lack of
faith. When we give our heart and flesh completely to Him and cry out
to Him, that is when we can hear Him. “I will
hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his
people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell
in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth;
and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall
give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his
steps.” - Psalm 85:8-13.

“but let them not turn
again to folly.” Okay, there are times when God will close His ears
to a person because they have sin in their lives. While He is
merciful and forgiving to all who cry out to Him, many of His people
only come to Him when they are in trouble, and as soon and He fixes
the problem, they are right back at it again. We can thank God for
His endless grace because He never leaves nor forsakes us no matter
how many times we mess up. But if it seems like God is not hearing
us, it might me wise to take a look at what we are doing to see if we
have some sin that has not been resolved. When we confess our sins,
and turn away from them, He will listen and answer us. “Draw
nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and
mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your
joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he
shall lift you up.” - James 4:8-10.

Jesus
Christ Magnified:
Today Jesus is revealed through the King, and God who is our
salvation. Jesus is the only one we can call on to be saved. “For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
- Romans 10:13.

Today's Prayer:
God, You promise to hear and answer all our prayers, but You did not
promise they would be in the way we expect. Thank You for Your mercy,
grace, and unwavering love for us, no matter how impatient we get,
how much we try to answer our prayers for you, or how much our faith
in you subsides when we do not hear you, you are always faithful, and
willing to give us above what we ask or think. Lord, I ask You for
one thing today, and that is to help mine unbelief, I know who You
are and what You can do for me, it is my hidden unbelief that hinders
me. I love You Lord, and pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

God
Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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