Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
5 sermons cite this verse
… No more will your labor be in vain, no more calamity for children. before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear. The Bible speaks of forgiveness of sin as a mere paintbrush stroke on the canvas of God's redemptive plan. And we can glory in the fact that we are forgiven by our Redeemer in this life by faith, but Christian, there will be a day when your sin and your misery is no more. There will be a day when your temptations and your sufferings will be squashed. And you ask, what sign do I have? What assurance of hope can you give me? and as you look to the cross for the forgiveness of your sins you look to the empty tomb for the assurance that all will be made right one day jesus is not dead his body cannot be found on this earth and because of that there will be a day when he returns and your misery and suffering will be no more but friend as you wait for that day you must remind yourself of this paradoxical, mysterious fact that if it were not for this man's paralysis in Mark chapter 2, his friends would never have taken him to Christ. …
In the first place, this was a fulfillment of the ancient Covenant Although all the details of these blessings to Israel were not mentioned in the Covenant made with Abraham, yet they were virtually included—and Moses mentioned them very particularly in the 6th Chapter of Deuteronomy when he told the people to beware lest they should forget the Lord who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. So that every time an Israelite walked out into his olive garden and especially when he beat the tree to bring down its fruit, he could say to himself, "Here is the fulfillment of the promise made to our fathers." If he was a truly devout Jew, he would never gather the grapes from his vineyard, nor drink of the milk, nor taste the honey which abounded in the land without recognizing that as the Lord had spoken, so the Lord had done! Jehovah had not fallen short of His promise in any respect—He had brought His people into just such a country as He had aforetime covenanted to bestow upon them! Now, Beloved, are not we also in very much the same position as Israel was with regard to many things around us? Why, even in temporals it is so! No good thing have we lacked, though we have sometimes feared that we would. As our days, our strength has been—and we can truly say that the Lord has been mindful of His Covenant and that not one of His promises has failed. This is especially the case as we recollect the answers God has given to our prayers. He long ago gave the promise, "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." And I, for one, have proved its truthfulness and desire to bear my testimony to the faithfulness of the Covenant-keeping God! Cannot you do the same, dear Friends? Why, I think you can hardly go into any room in your house—you cannot go to your beds, you cannot sit down at the table, you cannot walk along the street and I know that many of you cannot come to your pews in this place without thinking—"Here are the tokens of my Lord's faithfulness, goodness and truth!" You who have lived to see 60 or 70 summers have witnessed great varieties of weather, but you can bear your testimony that according to …
The weakest saint upon his knees. It is prayer that does it—and this fact should encourage us to pray! The success of Daniel's prayeris the next encouragement. He had not got to the end of his prayer before a soft hand touched him and he looked up—and there stood Gabriel in the form of a man! That was quick work! So Daniel thought, but it was much quicker than Daniel expected, for as soon as ever he began to pray, the word went forth for the angel to descend. The answer to prayer is the most rapid thing in the world! "Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear." I believe electricity travels at the rate of two hundred thousand miles in a second—so it is estimated, but prayer travels faster than that, for it is, "Before they call I will answer." There is no time occupied at all! When God wills to answer, the answer may come as soon as the desire is given. And if it delays, it is only that it may come at a better time—like some ships that come home more slowly because they bring the heavier cargo. Delayed prayers are prayers that are put out to interest awhile, to come home not only with the capital, but with the compound interest, too! Oh, prayer cannot fail—prayer cannot fail! Heaven may as soon fall as prayer fail! God may sooner change the ordinances of day and night, than He can cease to reply to the faithful, believing spirit-worked prayer of His own quickened, earnest, importunate people! Therefore, because He sends success, Brothers and Sisters, pray much! …
17-20. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and went to his father. "And when he came to himself." He had been beside himself before. There are two things upon which ungodly men are very ignorant—God and themselves. "He arose and went to his father." That was the best of all. He stopped not with resolutions, but he actually did the deed! This was the turning point with him. He arose and went to his father. 20, 21. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son. But the father interrupted the prayer. He would not let him conclude it. "Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear." 22-24. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fatted calf, and kill it and let us eat and be merry, For this, my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.What a change between being in need and, "let us eat and be merry."— …
Great discoverers, too, are highly honored and valued. It was right of Her Majesty the Queen to confer knighthood upon those who had bound two lands together, moored two distant nations side by side, so that they could speak to each other in friendly terms. 'Twas well done, good Sirs, to make the depths of the sea a highway for human thought! But what has Jesus done? He has not merely linked England and America together, but Heaven and earth! He has thrown a connecting cable between the sinner, far off from God, and the Eternal One who, hating sin, was far off from man. Now, through Him we can speak with God and, through Him, God returns an answer to the message of our misery and the sigh of our grief! Oh, Brothers and Sisters, Christ has established a communication which is swifter than the telegraph! "Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." He has bridged a gulf such as no human mind ever imagined could be bridged! As far as Hell is from Heaven was man from God—but Christ has bridged the chasm! The mountains of our sins are greater than a thousand Alps heaped on each other—and they stood between us and God—but the Cross has tunneled the mountains and there is now a highway for souls to come to God! Now shall He be great, indeed, if He gets His just deserts! …