God Hears

The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.

Psalm 145:18-19

Irina, a little girl growing up in the former Soviet Union, heard daily that God was only a fairy tale made up by ignorant people. She questioned why the teachers talked so much about this fake God and began to wonder if God might be real. One day she uttered her first prayer and saw God answer in a way that caused her to talk to him secretly each night when she was alone in bed.

She had no Bible and heard only atheistic teaching, but she kept asking God questions and seeking to know him. One night she wrote a heartfelt poem expressing her desire to find God, and she felt a warm, loving presence envelop her. Though Irina saw no evidence of the Lord in her society, her school, or her family, her heart cried out to him.

When Irina was twenty-three, someone gave her a Bible. As she read God’s words for herself, she knew the Lord truly loved her and had been leading her all her life. At twenty-eight, because of her Christian faith, she was sentenced to seven years’ hard labor and seven more years of internal exile. Despite all the persecution, Irina survived and was eventually released. She shared with others through speaking and writing how she had experienced God’s love and faithfulness over and over as she sought him. His presence made her feel much as she had as a child: a loving eye watching over her, a sense of incredible warmth in a freezing prison cell.

Throughout Irina’s horrible ordeal, God heard her prayers and continually assured Irina of his love. How beautifully her story shows that God hears us and loves us even when we don’t know much about him. What does this tell you about how the Lord desires a relationship with you?

Thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that you hear us no matter where we are and that no prison bars or other bleak circumstances can keep out your love. Thank you that when we seek you, we find you.

Be assured, if you walk with him and look to him and expect help from him, he will never fail you.

George Müller(1805–1898), German evangelist and orphanage director