Luke 1:11-13a
Many of us know what it’s like to speak with someone who is not listening. If we are fortunate, we also know what it’s like to speak with someone who listens deeply to what we are saying, understanding even those words and emotions which we are not saying directly.
In today’s passage, the angel brings good news to Zechariah: his prayer has been heard.
It seems that Zechariah and Elizabeth have been praying for a long time, likely many decades, for a child. It must have been a kind of inner groaning that would not leave, unlike the other cares and concerns of daily life. Their prayer was not just for a child, although that was central, but also for dignity and for God’s blessings for their present and future, all of which came with having a child.
What have we prayed over a period of time, whether days, months or even years? What have we asked God for, even if only with groans that cannot be put into words? How have we yearned for mercy and justice, whether for ourselves or for others?
Just as God heard Zechariah and Elizabeth’s prayer, God hears our prayers, especially those longings that come from our hearts for all that God has created us for.
We cannot say how or when God will answer. But we trust that God hears us. And it’s not just a surface hearing, where God nods his head at our requests but inwardly does not care. God listens and understands, knowing what we need even before we ask, and he responds in his time and in his way.
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