Questions and more questions. Are we the universe’s only child? Do we have cosmic siblings? In other words, Who are we?
These are some of the questions posed by the Breakthrough Initiative, a program funded by Yuri Milner, a Russian entrepreneur. The plan is to survey the one million closest stars to earth and listen in for intelligent communication. Stephen Hawking, at the University of Cambridge, strongly supports the project, the search for extraterrestrial life.
Also, a competition has been launched. The prizes total one million dollars for the design of a digital message which best represents humanity and the planet Earth. But if you win, they might not send your message anyway — until after some debate on the risks and rewards involved. The worry is that aliens may not be friendly.
While they begin spending the first 100 million dollars, could I remind you that there is Life out there, in another world? And it is friendly. The one listening to our transmissions is God. You won’t need the 64-meter-diameter Parkes telescope in New South Wales, Australia, to send your message. It’s busy, in any case, with the Breakthrough project.
You may well wonder, What kind of prayer does God hear? Does He insist on a long prayer? On prayer made in a church? On a repetitive prayer? Must it be made while kneeling or prostrate? Must it be sophisticated or dressed in ritual? Thankfully no, five times.
God hears prayer when it comes from an honest and humble heart. The Bible 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” (2 Chronicles 7:1414If 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. (2 Chronicles 7:14)).
When Peter was sinking in the water (Matthew 14), he prayed three words. He didn’t have time to get to church or wax eloquent. He spoke what was in his humble heart. “Lord, save me.”
The Lord took his hand and helped him up. Of course, the Lord has done that many times since and maybe you know people whose lives God has changed in answer to this prayer.
For 35 years the space probe Voyager 1 travelled within our solar system. But in 2012 it broke the sun’s influence and entered interstellar space to collect more data. What will it all mean in the end? Very little! Nothing transmitted from space could ever come close in importance to a simple prayer from your heart.
But if you bowed your heart in prayer today to the God Who Is There, you would be transformed from the inside out, forever — a prize worth more than many millions.
Sometimes we put barriers between our hearts and the God who loves us. Learn about one of those barriers that really wasn’t in There’ll Be Hanging for This.