Fear Not: Your prayer has been heard

Have you ever prayed and prayed for something, and it didn’t happen?  Prayer is a mystery.  The Bible tells us to pray and God will answer; but sometimes it seems like our prayers go unheard and unanswered; it can be discouraging. The first angelic visit in the Christmas story is an answer to a long-time prayer.  Here’s the story.

• Luke 1:5-25

Zechariah was a Jewish priest who served at the temple in Jerusalem.  He and his wife Elizabeth  loved God.  And they had prayed for years for children, but Elizabeth was unable to conceive.  Now they were older—past child-bearing age—and it seemed like their prayers were not going to be answered.

One day, Zechariah was working alone in the Temple when suddenly an angel appeared to him.  It scared him half to death!  So the first thing the angel said to him was…

• Luke 1:13  “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.”

The angel goes on to describe John (we know him as John the Baptist) and the work he would do: he will go before the Lord to prepare the people for His coming.  John would be the forerunner for the long-awaited Messiah.

What have you been praying for?

Christmas was actually the answer to thousands of prayers, millions of prayers that had been prayed over centuries.  “God, send our Savior.  Send the Messiah to redeem and rescue us.”  It wasn’t just Zechariah and Elizabeth’s prayer for a child—it was the prayers of millions for a redeemer that were being answered that first Christmas.  We have a Savior!  Don’t be afraid, your prayers have been heard; we have a Savior!