How Does God Juggle So Many Prayers?
So you consider yourself to be a multitasker do you? Well try this on for size. God has millions of prayers coming before Him at any given moment. How in the world does He hear each one and answer them all? It is a mind-boggling concept.
The recent 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination was also the 50th anniversary of C.S. Lewis leaving this world and going home to heaven. Two of the most famous men of the 20th century died on the same day in 1963. It was C.S. Lewis who beautifully addressed this very issue of how God answers so many prayers that are being offered simultaneously. Listen to Lewis explain it here in his own words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxs3gdtV8A
We tend to think of God having "time limits" just as we do in this world. But God has no such limits. He is outside of time. Eternity "past" and eternity "future" are outside of time. It is really just eternity, with no passage of "time" as we experience it here on earth in this dimension.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Allow this fact to blow your mind: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8) It's true. Mind-boggling, but nevertheless true. So how can we begin to wrap our minds around it?
C.S. Lewis put it this way as he described how God does not exist "in time." He stated, "His life doesn't consist of moments following one another. If a million people are praying to Him at 10:30 tonight, He hasn't got to listen to them all in that little snippet we call '10:30.'" Lewis goes on to say, "10:30 and every other moment from the beginning to the end of the world is always the present for Him. If you like to put it that way, He has infinity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames. That's difficult I know."
But it helps us start to understand at a very elementary level how God juggles so many prayers being prayed at the same time. Until we are liberated from this time dimension, it will be impossible for us to fully grasp how this gets experienced in heaven. But make no mistake about it. This time dimension in which you and I currently exist is coming to an end, just as it had a beginning. The same cannot be said for eternity.
Lewis continued, "The point I want to drive home is that God has infinite attention, infinite measure to spare for each one of us. He doesn't have to take us in the line. You're as much alone with Him as if you were the only thing He ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually, just as much as if you had been the only man in the world."
That right there is tremendous proof of how much God loves you. He sent His only Son to die for you. Not just for the world, but for you. If you allow that good news to sink it, and if you embrace it with all of your heart, His love will change you forever.
When God created you, He did so in a very interesting way. Part of you is already eternal. The Bible calls this immortal aspect of your being your "soul." You already sense this eternal aspect of your being, or at least you did early in life before you learned to repress those feelings because they frightened you. God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." (Ecclesiastes 3:11) This is why it never feels natural for us to attend a funeral, and especially the funeral of a loved one. We were not created by God to die. We were created to live forever, just as God lives forever.
So it's not a matter of whether you want to exist forever, or not. It was decided for you before you were born. God decided to create you. When He did that, you were created with an immortal soul. Nothing you ever do will change that fact. But you can repress that truth, as many do. Frankly, I would too if I didn't know Christ as my Savior. Who wants to consider eternity if you don't know where you are going to spend it? That is a scary thought.
The Lord understands why that concept frightens us. But He did something to assure that we can live forever in a place with no fear, or apprehension, or boredom, or pain, or death. That place is called "paradise." It is outside of time. God is there, and He would love for you to join Him when your earthly body dies. That's what the cross of Christ and His empty tomb are all about. That is why Christ came into our time dimension. He came here for you. God is looking at you today in love. And He knows that your only way of coming into His eternal family is to come by way of the cross. When one repents of his sin and trusts Christ for salvation, he is immediately forgiven and made an inheritor of eternal life in paradise.
Too good to be true? Many seem to think so. And a good number of them even repress any belief whatsoever in "life after death." I can understand why they feel that way, and why they have chosen to perform these mental gymnastics to avoid thinking about death, heaven, hell, God, sin, salvation, and the like. I would too if I was in their shoes. The only thing that would change my perspective is if I came to know Jesus as my Savior. And I am so thankful that I do, along with millions of other believers in the world today.
When we pray to the Father, He hears our prayers for the sake of His Son. He hears us as if each of us is an "only child" in His family. How cool is that? And how special each one of God's children is to Him.
But what about you? Are you finally ready to give up that losing battle with the fear of death? You can bring that fear and your sin to the One who said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25,26)
Jesus then asked Martha the all-important question: "Do you believe this?" I cannot overemphasize how paramount this issue of belief is when it comes to knowing God, and receiving eternal life in heaven. Everything hinges on it. I don't know all the reasons why God set it up this way, but He did. And you have only two options: (1) You can repent and believe the good news; or (2) you can reject Christ as your Savior.
You probably already know John 3:16. It is the most famous verse in the Bible. But later in that chapter the apostle John wrote these words which are just as important: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)
When you come to see that on the cross Jesus Christ bore God's wrath against your sin, you will be very close to personally understanding the love of God. The Lord really does want to save you from your sin. But do you want to be saved, and do you want to spend eternity in heaven with your Creator who loves you and gave Himself for you?
While God has infinity to listen to our prayers, you do not have infinity to accept Christ. You have this moment. You are not even promised another hour. At least not in that body. Once you leave this time dimension, you will experience infinity and it will never end. And because He loves us, God not only gave us His Son, but He also gave us a love letter (the Bible) in which He laid out the plan of salvation.
How much more could God have given for you to bow your knee at the foot of Christ's cross and receive His love and forgiveness? He might decide to give you some more time to consider His plan. But then again, He might not. You are not promised tomorrow. But you will exist in eternity. Your immortal soul guarantees that fact.
So why not talk to your Creator right now? He has all the time in the world; or should I say, in heaven, to hear you and respond to your heart's desire. Now that you have all this good news to consider about God's love and the reality of paradise, just what is your heart's desire as it relates to Jesus Christ?
