The Truth in Red Letters
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16
I’ll never forget the moment.
I was driving down a busy road when a church sign caught my attention. In bold, red, all-capital letters, it asked:
“IS PRAYER A WASTE OF TIME?”
I almost laughed out loud.
“Of course not,” I said defensively, gripping the steering wheel. “Why would anyone even ask that?”
But as I drove past, something about the question lingered.
It followed me.
And before long, it wasn’t just a question on a sign anymore—it became a question in my heart.
Is prayer a waste of time?
I wanted to answer quickly. Confidently. Theologically.
But honesty has a way of slowing us down.
Because if I truly believed prayer mattered… if I believed it was how I hear God’s voice… if I believed it changed things…
Then why wasn’t I doing it more?
Why did I rush through it?
Why did I treat it like a last resort instead of a first response?
Why did I fill my time with so many other things—but not the very thing that connects me to the heart of God?
Maybe you’ve been there, too.
We say we want to hear God’s voice.
We long for clarity. Direction. Peace.
But our lives are often so full…so loud…so rushed…that we leave little room to actually listen.
And here’s the truth we don’t always want to admit:
Sometimes God isn’t silent.
Sometimes…we’re just not still.
Jesus modeled something radically different.
Luke 5:16 tells us, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Often.
Not occasionally.
Not when it was convenient.
Not when everything else was finished.
Often.
If Jesus—the Son of God—needed to step away from the noise to pray, how much more do we?
Prayer isn’t a waste of time.
It’s where clarity is formed.
It’s where our hearts are realigned.
It’s where we stop striving and start listening.
Prayer doesn’t just change our circumstances—it changes us.
It shifts us from anxious to anchored.
From overwhelmed to aware.
From distracted to discerning.
If we want to recognize God’s voice, we have to create space to hear it.
Not perfectly.
Not for hours at a time.
But consistently.
Maybe today, it looks like five quiet minutes before the day begins.
Maybe it’s turning off the noise in the car instead of filling every second with sound.
Maybe it’s whispering, “God, I’m listening,” and actually pausing long enough to hear what He might say.
Friend, God is speaking.
Through His Word.
Through His Spirit.
Through the gentle prompting in your heart.
The question isn’t if He’s speaking.
The question is—are we listening?
If you’ve been longing to hear God more clearly, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to figure it out on your own either.
I created something simple to help you build a daily rhythm of hearing His voice.
It’s called “100 Fearless Scriptures.”
Day by day, verse by verse, it will help you:
Quiet the noise
Refocus your heart
And tune your ear to the truth of God’s Word
Because the more time we spend in His Word…the more familiar His voice becomes.
Let’s make space for Him together.
