He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. (Isaiah 30:18–19) This is stunning, to say the least. If God is gracious and loves to show his mercy to his people, then why doesn’t he just do it? Why does he wait to be gracious? Why does he first require that he hear “the sound of your cry”? For heaven’s sake, Lord, or perhaps we should say, for our sake here on earth, just do it. Just give it. Just pour out your mercy and whatever other blessings or help or provision we need. Why do you insist that we first “wait” on you in prayer? It’s
...more
