When we pray, we want to know God is listening.

When we’re in a crisis, we want to know God sees and is going to help.

When we have an unmet need, we want to know God is aware and is already working out the solution.

We want to know we have His attention. That He’s really there. That we matter to Him. That He truly cares about us.

The good news is that we do have God’s attention. And we matter greatly to Him. He cares about us more than we can even imagine. Romans 5:8 settles it: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We were alienated from God. We were rebels. Objects of His wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). And yet God reached out to us. He demonstrated His love for us. He took on the punishment we had earned for rebelling against Him.

But when we focus so much of our attention on our circumstances, it’s easy to lose sight of God. When I focus on what I see around me, God seems small. And unconcerned. Even uncaring. He feels far away.

So even though we have God’s attention, He often doesn’t have our attention.

We’re more concerned with our ways, our plans, our desires and our goals. We’re not all that interested in doing life God’s way. We just want Him to bless our way. And it frustrates us when He won’t cooperate.

I was talking with a friend whose wedding I was going to perform. He was telling me about how hard it was to put the seating chart together for the reception. Who should sit near the front? Who’s going to be in the back?

God doesn’t demand front row seating in our lives. We have to invite Him to come to the front. Of our lives. Of our marriages. Of our families. Of our work. Of everything.

It’s His rightful place. It’s where we need Him to be. It’s how life is supposed to work.

But He lets us choose Him. Or not.

You have God’s attention, but the degree to which you will experience the life He has for you depends on how much of your attention He has.

Giving God our attention requires getting to know and believe Him. I’m offering I BELIEVE GOD, my 40-day devotional for free on Amazon today (March 4, 2017). CLICK HERE to get your free eBook.