Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” He replied. The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.” ACTS 9:10-11 (NLT)

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My bride most often leaves her iPad here at home when she goes to her office. It dings when she receives text messages. Ordinarily, this does not bother me. It reminds me to pray for her and for the issues she faces in her job. However, the dings do irritate me a bit when I am trying to nap.

Now and then the two of us have a text exchange. She reminds me of something I am supposed to do or we discuss dinner plans. When I hit SEND on my message, there is a delay as the message goes all the way to a satellite in space and bounces back to the iPad sitting across the room in our house and I hear that old familiar ding. There is a further delay as she continues working on whatever she is focused on at that moment. She finally reads the message and responds.

Of course, my bride frequently hits SEND and then calls about the same time the text message arrives so that she can ask me or tell me the same thing she sent in the text message.

How quickly does God answer prayer? Read v. 11 again: “He (Saul) is praying to me right now.” Our Father in heaven is quicker at answering our prayers than we are in praying them. I guess Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said right before the words of the Lord’s Prayer,

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”
Matt. 6:7, 8

What is God waiting to say Yes to for you? He is quicker than a text message, faster than a phone call. He is ready, willing, and able to hear and to respond to whatever is on your heart and mind.

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I will pray trusting God to hear and to respond.

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Our Father, thank you for being quicker at answering our prayers than we are to pray them. Thank you for answering better than we ask. Thank you that you know what we need before we ask. Thank you for this gift of loving communication and instant relationship. Amen.