God spoke first

Up there on my list of aggravating activities is phoning a company and encountering hurdles of multiple options in order to reach a real person. I remember hating hurdling at school.

This week, I realised I sometimes see prayer like that. As if praying is me dialling God’s number, unsure whether he will pick up my call or whether I will be diverted to a heavenly call centre. Dial OPTION 1 for REPENTANCE, 2 for FORGIVENESS, 3 for GOOD WORKS. Oh no - I pressed the wrong button and I’m on hold again! After all, God has loads of calls coming in.

I have been on retreat walking by the sea and reading about the prayer lives of the great saints, I saw a recurring theme - prayer doesn’t start with us, it starts with God. It’s not us dialling in. It’s us responding to God’s call.

God spoke first. God’s Word created the world. The golden stream in my photo exists because God spoke first. My eyes which only saw it exist because God spoke. My ears which hear his voice in the waves that filled the estuary and fill my heart are only open because God spoke.

God spoke first. He is the Word who became human because he wanted us to respond.

God called us first. That changes prayer from desperation to conversation.

True, there are moments when we pray and don’t get an instant answer from God. Like when Trevor died or the recent diagnosis of breast cancer. Heaven was silent as to why. It is at those moments I most need to remember that every prayer is part of a much bigger conversation. God has already spoken the definitive word of love on the Cross.

When we know God spoke first, our prayers find words in his Word. His promises take us by the hand to lead us to his heart.

We can pray with confidence because God spoke first and because God loved first.

When we pray, God is there waiting for our response to his call.