The Lord Listens

I Kings 17:20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

In our culture we often make a big deal about the difference between hearing and listening.  We know that a person has heard what we said, but we also know by his/her actions, or lack thereof, that listening has not occurred.  In this account the widow had seen God provide sufficient food for survival for her, her son, and Elijah. The son ended up dying anyway.  Elijah called out to God in prayer over and over again. The Lord listened, and the woman came to see what many in Israel refused to - that Elijah spoke for God. If we will consistently and continually call out to God, we will find Him to be the One who hears and listens, and we will learn to listen to Him, and we will know Truth.