By Jane L Fryar
“Can you hear me now?” As Verizon rolled out its now-iconic ad campaign, the company hired 50 people to drive from coast to coast and back again. Each employee traveled 100,000 miles a year, testing network reliability.
The commercials quickly became famous, then infamous. Soon, the tagline became a punchline in an amazing variety of jokes: Can You Hear Me Now?
Psalm 139:7–10 (ESV) promises believers the Lord’s continual presence:
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
The depths of the ocean. The surface of the moon. Everywhere in between. No matter where we go, we never go alone.
At the vet or at the lake. In the car or in the foxhole. In the office or at the bank. Into the surgical suite or onto the factory floor. Even there, . . . never alone!
My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest (Exodus 33:14 ESV).
Does it seem as though the Lord hears the prayers we pray in a church or chapel more readily or that his answers come more quickly when we pray there? Many Christians secretly believe this, but nothing in the Bible supports it. To be sure, the place where we hear God’s Word week by week will just naturally become special to us over time. For any number of reasons, we may want to go there during the week to pray in silent solitude. During his own earthly ministry, Jesus called the Temple in Jerusalem “a house of prayer” (Luke 19:46). Still, it was “a house of prayer,” not the only one.
Wherever we pray, whenever we pray, we can be sure our words touch heaven—and move the heart of God. Wherever we find ourselves, whenever we speak, our Lord is listening. Perhaps one of Jesus’ best-known promises is also one of his most comforting:
I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20 ESV).
Editor’s note: Today’s devotion is adapted from CTA’s How to Pray book.
You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use when you include this credit line and receive no monetary benefit from it: © 2020 CTA, Inc. Used with permission.
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