“Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” (Psalm 66:16-20).
Does God hear my prayers?
After reading the verses quoted above, it’d be easy to think the answer is found in us—our actions, our faith, our righteousness. After all, the psalmist wrote, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer” (Psalm 66:18-19).
It must be us, right? If we don’t cherish sin in our hearts, then God listens to our prayers.
But if that’s true, then I have a problem. Because of my sinful nature, though my new self in Christ Jesus struggles against it, I still sin. Daily. And while my new self abhors the sinful things I do, there’s a part of me—the sinful old self still lurking about in my heart—that, God help me, cherishes those sins.
Does that mean God doesn’t hear my prayers?
Of course not. Dear Christian, God doesn’t listen to our prayers because of what we do or don’t do or because of our faith or our righteousness.
God listens and hears our prayers because of our Savior Jesus and what he did for us. Perfect praise was always on his tongue. Never did he cherish sin in his heart. His perfect life of praise and righteousness was for us—so that we can say confidently with the psalmist, “Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” (Psalm 66:20).
God accepts our prayers, imperfect though they are, and graciously gives us his love because of his Son Jesus. Our sins are forgiven. We’re God’s dearly loved children. And because of those amazing truths, because of our Savior, we can approach our heavenly Father with confidence. Not confidence in ourselves, but in him, knowing that he hears and answers us according to his good and gracious will, in the way that he knows is best for our spiritual good, his children.
Our response?
Thank you, God, for accepting these words . . . these thoughts . . . these groans that only you know. Thank you, God, for loving us with an everlasting love in our Savior Jesus. Shape and fashion our prayers in your name. Strengthen our faith in you; draw us closer to you. Give us opportunities to tell others what you have done for us so that they may know you and your love for them as well.
And in all things, Lord, your will be done.
Looking for more? Prayer: An Audience with the King will help you understand and improve your prayer life through an easy-to-follow study of God’s Word and its teaching on prayer.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House and a 2023 graduate of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation with his family.
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