For many years, I took this for granted. God was always there to hear my prayers, right? If I took the time, He would be waiting for my list of needs and wants. But if you think about it, we’re talking about the Almighty ONE who flung the galaxies into place with but a word! The creator of all things, the King over all, Yahweh, Elohim.
I learned a long time ago that God promises to give us what we pray for if we ask according to His will. But I often stumbled in knowing what His will was so that I could pray that way. In my young adult years my prayers were often ended with, ‘IF it is your will.’ Over time, though, my prayers and my heart grew dull and stagnant. Though I’m sure there are many reasons for this dullness, I believe it was partially due to lack of confidence that I was actually praying according to His will. Ultimately I became cynical about prayer.
Does God have a favorite? I think we can all agree that Jesus is most certainly His favorite. Multiple times while Jesus walked this earth 2000 years ago, the voice of the Father boomed out from heaven: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am greatly pleased!" When you consider that from all of eternity past, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit dwelt in the greatest of fellowship together, it becomes obvious that when it comes to being a favorite Son, Jesus wins hands down.
But what of you or I? God's favorite? If you're like me, there is a lot inside of me that screams out, "are you kidding?" There is certainly nothing within me that qualifies me for that nor anything that I've done that would be worthy of that title.