PRAYERS AND STARS
I am making a connection between our prayers and the stars. Consider this: In Psalm 147.4, I read “He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name.” What an incredible claim! I read on Internet that “The observable universe contains an estimated 200 sextillion to 1 septillion stars—a number written as a 2 followed by 23 zeros up to a 1 followed by 24 zeros.” In other words, it is impossible for a human being to calculate the power of God and the number of stars.
It is the same way with prayer: there are millions of people who always pray to God, but he does not decide on which person he will listen to because his attention is individually to all. He accepts all prayers, although he may turn away from people who are not repentant (Isaiah 1.15 and Psalm 66.18: If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;). He also rejects selfish prayers (James 4.3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.) and those who ignore his commands.
Although there are millions of people praying each day, God knows them all, just as assuredly as he knows the names of all the stars. In this sense, his knowledge is incomprehensible to me as a mere human—although he knows my name.
Even in heaven, we are individual people who still have our earthly identity (Luke 16.19-31 and Revelation 6.9-11) and are known by God.
How many pieces of sand are there on the seashores of the world? We cannot possibly count them and yet God told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and the sand on the seashore. (Genesis 22.17: I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.)
Referring to the uncountable number of sands on the seashore, as we read in the hyperbole of Joshua 11.4: “They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.”
David knew that God was with him, everywhere, before and behind, and that he could go nowhere to flee from his presence (Psalm 139). This Psalm reminds me of the way God has been with me, even as I was born, and that nothing I do is hidden from him. David expressed this beautifully when he said “How precious to me are your thoughts, God. How vast is the sum of them!” (139.17; see also 31.19 and 38.7)
I also identify with David when he said, “Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” (Psalm 40.5)
I am overcome with the thought of God caring for me so much because, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55.9)
Our prayers should also be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. As Paul reminded us, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.” (Ephesians 6.18)
God, in His mercy, hears our prayers, just as he heard the prayers of Jesus: “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews 5.7)
I want to pray right up until the day I leave this earth. My prayers won’t be as numerous as the stars or the sand of the seashore, but they will be like the smoke of incense as they go to God (Revelation 8.4: The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand).
It does not matter who the person is, or where they are, God hears their prayers. And, although the number of people praying may be as numerous as the sand on the seashore or the stars in the universe, he hears them all.
What a tremendous God!
Karl Franklin
