I answered the telephone with a hello and heard a little boy voice say, “Hi Podditt!”

“Hi Raffi!” I replied with surprise and pleasure.

My four-year-old grandson, Raphael, had just called his grandma on his own for the very first time. His mother had called me from the store less than five minutes before and Raffi had redialed to talk to me.

Tears filled my eyes as he began talking to me, most of which I couldn’t understand. But it didn’t matter. He had purposefully called to talk with me! As I heard his chatter, I thought, “How cool is this? This is the first time of many times that he is going to call me.”

(By the way, Raffi started calling Larry and I “Podditt” when he couldn’t pronounce “grandpa.” I encouraged him using it for my name and eventually he chose “grandpa” for Larry’s name. I figure I’ll be the only Podditt in the world! How cool is that?)

As Raffi and I chatted back and forth, I was so thrilled that it surprised me. And I couldn’t resist thinking of God who must love me calling upon Him just as much; maybe more. I pictured the joy of Zephaniah 3:17:
“The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” (NASB).

Knowing God delights in my prayers is particularly meaningful right now especially as I meditated on Daniel 9: 22-23 this morning. Daniel has been confessing the sins of his people and himself and asking for God’s forgiveness and the restoration of their nation from exile. As he’s praying, the angel Gabriel appears. Daniel writes, “‘He [Gabriel] gave me instruction and talked with me and said, ‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision'”” (NASB).

As soon as Daniel prayed, the command was issued–the reply. Although told the command was issued, the command itself wouldn’t be carried out for quite a while because the answer/command is expressed in verses 24-27 referring to the End Times.

But what spoke to me both through knowing God delights to hear my prayers and that the answer is often answered, though not fulfilled right away, is that I’m praying along with members of my family for my brother, Chuck, who is in the hospital in horrible pain. His kidneys are in renal failure and they are trying to determine whether the intense back pain he’s having is connected to that or to a pinched nerve problem.

So I pray continually for him; for relief, for wisdom for the doctors, for strength for him and his family. I’m so grateful that they all know the Lord and are looking to Him also. So far, God has not answered our prayers with the quickness we would like. But we can trust that whatever His answer is, He is attentive and loves hearing us intercede for Chuck.

Would you also pray for Chuck? Thank you.

And rejoice knowing that your Heavenly Father loves to hear your prayers. Just like this Podditt loves her grandson to call.