Then go...and take action

Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
or withdraw his unfailing love from me. (Psalm 66:16-20)

Come and listen. How many times do we sit through a sermon, preached with all the anointing God provides, only to have heard the words, but been unaffected by the instruction? I bet it is more than once or twice. We come. We listen. Somehow, even though those two actions were taken, we miss the mark. We don't really 'learn' because there was very little to no obedience as a result of hearing. There is something powerful in listening, but if we listen and never learn, we fall short of what God intends.

In listening, we often find moments when we must also 'cry out'. We express the depths of our hearts in prayer, supplication, and even praise. God appreciates the honesty of a heart that is willing to go to the 'extremes' of true worship. Worship begins and ends with honesty. God pays attention to our prayers. He will never ignore them, even when they are 'lackluster' at best! He particularly hears us when they are urgent, truthfully spoken, and brought with a desperation that knows lest he intervene with his grace, we will leave unchanged.

It is that intervening moment when we confess our need, unburdening our hearts, even being honest that there has been sin in our hearts, that he acts. He hears the genuineness of our cry, and we somehow hear the gracefulness of his supply. His unfailing love takes all we say, sees all we have done, and knows exactly what is needed to sort out the mess we have made for ourselves. Come and listen - then go and take action. Perhaps that should be our 'plan' for today. We took the action to come, even to listen, but if we fail to take action (put feet to our prayers), then we have missed the intent of the moment. Just sayin!