Psalm 66 God Hears the Voice of our Prayers and He Answers

Whenever I read Psalm 66 I think of my late dear friend Heidi.  I can remember her voice on the other end of the phone calling to tell me that God had spoken to her through these words, especially verses 19 and 20.  I call Psalm 66, Heidi’s Psalm.  Heidi’s name is marked next to these verses in my Bibles.  As she cried out to God in her anguish, she knew that He had answered her with His words in scripture.  He "heard her cry and attended to the voice of her prayer.  He had not turned away her prayer nor would He take His mercy from her".  I cannot explain how she knew that His specific words were meant for her except that I have experienced the same spiritual understanding in my life in times of prayer and scripture reading.  Heidi was so very sure of God’s presence in her life and I am too.

God increases our faith and prepares us for eternity as we seek Him in His Word.  The Bible is “The Living Word”.  The Word does not “return void”.  In Isaiah 55 we read, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts……..so is my word that goes forth from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it………This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed”.  When we know that God has spoken to us; when we feel His presence; we are never the same!

January 16^th would have been Heidi’s 71^st Birthday.  She was taken from us too soon.  Her earthly battle with cancer gave her a deep spiritual victory over death.  Her spirit, which was reborn, will live on in eternity with our Savior waiting for Frank and her loved ones when we pass on from this earthly existence into eternity.  My final conversation with her was in Huntington Hospital as I sat by her bedside.  She said, “Anna, I can’t fight this battle any longer.  I have made peace with God and I am ready to go to Him.  Please tell Frank, my mother, and my sister that I love them.  Help them to understand.”  At that moment she let go, she signed her DNR, and began retreating into herself, getting ready to leave us.  She died about one week later on February 14, Valentine’s Day, at the Hospice in East Northport.  Her love will remain in our hearts, Psalm 66 will always be Heidi’s Psalm, and I will see her again someday.