2 Chronicles 30:27 (NIV) The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

When King Hezekiah began to reign, he immediately began to restore order in the land as far as obeying and honoring God, unlike what his evil father had done. In the very first month of his kingship, he opened the doors of the temple and repaired them. Then he gathered the priests and the Levites and urged them to consecrate themselves and to remove all defilement from the sanctuary. They got to work immediately to restore the temple. When it was restored, Hezekiah and the officials brought bulls, rams, lambs and goats to sacrifice as sin offerings to the Lord. Then he called all the people of Judah together, including the ten northern tribes to celebrate the Passover, something that had not been done for many years. The people were so fervent as they celebrated the festival while the priests and Levites praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments and they were so overjoyed that Hezekiah decided to extend the celebration another seven days. At the end of the celebration, the priests rose to bless the people and the scripture above says that their prayer reached heaven.

Those words should cause us to pause and think about that for a moment. If the verse is telling us that their prayer reached heaven, then it becomes apparent that there are prayers that don’t reach heaven. Just because someone engages in the practice of prayer, that does not mean that they are automatically communicating with God. Mouthing words up into the air with your eyes closed is not what makes your prayers viable. People offer up prayers all the time, but I have been a witness to those that have done it without any life in their words. Some have even written their prayer down and when they read it, it sounded more like a speech rather than a prayer.

So what is it that would ensure that our prayers reach heaven? It’s actually quite simple. You can know that your prayers will reach heaven when you pray sincerely from your heart. When you are praying to God as if He is right there with you and you are bearing your heart and soul to Him, you don’t have to wonder if your prayers are breaking through to God’s holy dwelling place, as the verse of scripture above says. The Lord knows the heart with which we pray and knows if you are praying without your heart involved. He also knows the motive of your heart for offering up your prayer. In other words, are you truly talking to God or are you talking for other people to hear you? Are you giving a speech or are you actively engaging in communicating with your Heavenly Father? Are you aware of His presence right there with you as you pray? Is your heart and soul engaged as you pray to the God who has opened the way for you to His throne room of grace? If you are praying that way, then your prayers are reaching heaven and the Lord is hearing you. Let’s make sure that if we are going to take time to pray, that they will be prayers that find their way to heaven where our Abba dwells, who is waiting for us to call on Him in spirit and in truth.

Pastor Joey Vazquez