Throughout the Easter Season, the daily devotions have been written by members of Faith Lutheran Church. Today’s writer is Eric Lerch.
“Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me. He said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.” Acts 10:30-33
“Your prayer has been heard.” If only we had an angel appear to us and confirm that God was indeed listening every time we bring our struggles and sorrows. Unfortunately, precious few of us have been blessed with such a clear sign of God’s presence as Cornelius was in this passage. Often, the most challenging times of our lives are those moments when God just doesn’t seem to hear us.
Our need to be assured of God receiving our petitions is ingrained in our liturgy when we ask “Lord, hear our prayers.” But how do we know that our prayers have been heard?
In the larger context of this story in Acts, a small community of believers, Peter and some other Jewish Christians, meet Cornelius and his Gentile associates in fellowship. The Holy Spirit comes and unites this diverse group of people in faith in Jesus in response to Cornelius’s prayers. How many times has an answer to your prayers come in the form of God sending a fellow believer to comfort and console you in your time of need? In Christian community, God provides us the answers that the world fails to give.
Let us pray: Dear Lord, Thank you for hearing our prayers, and thank you for sending people into our lives in response to our supplications. Help us to tell others about the ways in which you have made a difference in our lives. Amen.
Daily Devotions 
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