How God Listens to Us

Everyday Prayer with John Calvin
Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25

This passage describes the joy of the New Jerusalem yet to come, and all that will be for the citizens of the New City. It is with great excitement that we look forward to that day. There are tremendous benefits to this City, and we do well to allow our minds to drift towards them as they are here summarized.

First, note the attitude in which the saints will demonstrate upon the arrival of the New Jerusalem: they will be glad and rejoice! (65:18). This attitude undergirds the entire passage as it gives reasons why we will rejoice and be glad. Even today, as we await this New Jerusalem, we have reason to rejoice and be glad. Our chief end in life is to glorify our God and Redeemer and enjoy him. We do this, in part, today through the celebration of the Lord's Day that our God has been pleased to grant. On that day, we taste in part the heavenly joys of the New City that will come.

Second, note the reasons for such joy: Our God will be glad in his people. Though our God is indeed pleased in us today, there is an aspect that is missing and will be made whole on that great day. We still sin, and we still displease our Father from time to time. Though he regards us as his "treasured possession" (Ex. 19:5) and the "apple of His eye" (Zech. 2:8), there is a day coming when he will regard us with greater favor than he does today.

Third, note that death will be no more (65:20). The threat of death hangs over each of us. Though its sting has been removed, it is still a threshold that we must cross.

Fourth, note that our labors will not be in vain (65:21-23). Our best efforts today fall far short of the glory God demands. On our best day, we are unprofitable servants (Lk. 17:5-10). On that great day, our labors will be perfectly acceptable. Our work will bring maximum glory to God. They will not be mingled with weakness and failure, and they will not be polluted with wrong motives. Finally, note that our God will hear before we call (65:24). We have that privilege in part today. Our God knows our needs before we ask him and tell him. He is light years ahead of our best prayers and pleadings.

Commenting on this passage, and specifically 65:24, Calvin wrote, "though it becomes fully evident that we have been heard when the event actually proves it, yet God does not in the meantime overlook us; for he does not permit us to faint, but supports us by the power of his Spirit, that we may wait for him patiently." That is to say that the God who hears us before we speak is not sitting idle, nor is he overlooking us as we wait for his answers. Sometimes God hears and acts very quickly. Most of the time he allows us to wait, and as we wait, he is working, and he is granting us his Spirit to strengthen our patience. Calvin continues, "there are two ways in which God listens to us; first, when he renders assistance openly; and secondly, when he aids us by the power of his Spirit., that we may not sink under the weight of afflictions.: (57) It is comforting to know that our God hears us. It is more comforting to know that he sustains us in our waiting. He hears. He acts. He strengthens. He answers. Unlike the dead idols of Israel, the God our Redeemer hears his children when they pray and strengthens them to wait for him with patience that flows from the Spirit.