I Have Heard Your Prayers

The word time is a word that is often taken for granted. We are all guilty of often wasting time. We are all guilty of not using our time wisely. In fact the old cliché says that, “Time waits on no man.”

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines time as a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in an apparently irreversible succession from the past through to the present, and from the present to the future. So therefore time is something we don’t have much of. The facts are, there are many of us sitting here in church who has often wished that we could recapture the past. We have often said I wish that I could turn back the hands of time.”

Time is one of the most valuable things that God has given us. We can waste money and its okay. Well preacher I’m not following you on that one. I say this because, we have the opportunities to earn more money, or save money by not spending so much of it, or even by working a part time job to earn more of it. But wasted time is time wasted. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. There is no earning it back, there is no negotiating it back, and there’s definitely no buying it back. Time only comes from God. For the few moments that I have I just want to expound on two points. I’ll try not to be too long.

My first point is: when it’s time to go to our Island of Patmos.

There comes a time in life that we have to remove ourselves from everyone and everything. There are going to be some situations that require all of our attention, our mental discipline, and concentration.

There’s going to come a time when advice from family and friends isn’t going to mean much, and for some people seeking the advice of a physic, just save your money because it’s not going to work either.

But I just wanted to share with you where you can go to seek counsel, peace, and the solutions, some resolutions and some answers for some unanswered questions.

There is a place that you can go to, that can give you all the answers you seek. That place is called your “Island of Patmos.”

I know we have some Bible scholars in here, but I’m not talking about that place where John was exiled, that was about 20 miles long and 10 miles wide or that high mountain that reached almost an altitude of 500 feet. I’m not talking about that place when John went into the mountains and received revelations from God. I’m not talking about that kind of physical place.

I’m simply talking about a place that you can go to seek God’s face.

I know 2nd Chronicles 7:14 says: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

You need a place where it’s just you and God; a place that has peace. A place that is serene, and this has to be a place and a time of separation. You need a place where there are no distracts, because saints the reason that we can’t move forward in ministry is because there are just too many distractions, too many interruptions, disruptions, disturbances, and too much commotions.

And this place will need to be a place where the television is off. This is a place where the cell phones and land phones are turned off. This is a place where only you and God need to commune.

That’s why the senior generation say’s “Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right.” That’s why the song writer wrote the song “Steal Away,” because sometimes you have to steal away, just for you and God so that you can seek his face for some of the answers that you have been seeking.

Now you must know this that going to your Island of Patmos is not a fun place. Some tears are going to be shed, on this island some pain and suffering is going to take place. On this island you will suffer, be lied on, abused, and drugged the mud. On this island it is a time of fasting and praying. So, the record is Hezekiah found himself in this type of situation. Hezekiah understood quite well the meaning of time.

The scripture says: In those days Hezekiah became ill and he was at the point of death. And the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; and you will not recover." The bible portrays that Hezekiah was devastated by the news for two reasons: