Proverbs 31:2 Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!
Text: Proverbs 31
It's hard to imagine in our media saturated world what it means for God to have the time to answer our prayers.
Through the upgrades of technology, we can easily be immersed in anything from gaming to photographing personal loves or chatting with people in other states or on other continents without leaving our homes or offices. The world is at our fingertips! Yet, our mothers (or mother/father figures) occasionally walk in on what we are doing and ask us for a moment about our actions and what we are doing. Sometimes, we are ready for those heart to hearts. Sometimes we are ready to hear words of wisdom and love and insight but sometimes we are not sure if they are better than the feedback we get on the other end of our phone, our computer, or our electronic device.
In Proverbs 31:2, a woman told her son, "You are the answer to my prayers!" She then proceeds to give her son wisdom on what it means to have noble character. The entire speech that pours forth starts with the call of a mother to her son. She says, "Listen, my son! Listen son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayer!" This text is often used for it's insight
for singles or newly engaged couples or married couples in pursing the character of a noble 'king' or a noble wife. Yet, the woman of verse 2 teaches us something that can not be separated from understanding the rest of the passage. The woman was a woman of prayer who had sought the Lord in a struggle. When God answered her request she acknowledged God and did not keep the news from her son of the blessing of answered prayer and that he was an answer to prayer. Through verse 2, we know that this was not merely a wise word from some sage or king of the day but a word from someone who knew and spent time with God. She struggled for something, we do not know the details of what she struggled with, but we know that within the struggle God answered her prayers by giving her a child, the son she was coming to with the message to listen.
The first thing we can to do to be a person of upright character is "Listen." Listen to who is speaking to you whether you agree with them or not. If we can not listen to those God has placed in our lives now, calling us to listen as the mother did to her son, then we may have a hard time listening to God as He calls to us, "Child, listen! I am." When we begin to hear God speak and as we obey Him, we will learn to see God at work also answering our prayers, despite the noise of what is around us.
The second thing we can do to be a person of upright character is pray. If we decide to abide by the wise words of the woman, try to put on the noble character, and deal justly and judge rightly but neglect to confidently enter into relationship with the God who gives all things, provides all things, and dismiss casually the acknowledgement of the woman's answered prayer then we forget that at the heart of all the wisdom and insight was an attitude of prayer to the Heavenly Father, to Jesus the mediator between God and us. In the midst of our struggle God is present. He hears us, knows us, and is ready to forgive us, heal us, comfort us, bless us, love us, care for us, teach us, and correct us when we are willing to come to Him in prayer.
Does God have time to answer our prayers? Yes, He does. He wants to answer us and He is willing to hear us. Are you ready to hear God and listen to Him speak?
How has God answered your prayer today?
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence (boldness), so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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