We serve a God who gives great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4).  One promise that He has given us, through His inspired Word, is to hear our prayers when we offer them to Him.

Proverbs 15:29 (ESV)
²⁹  The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

And again,

1 Peter 3:12 (ESV)
¹²  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

What a blessing it is to have the ear of God whenever we are in trouble or have a need.  To have access to the one who owns every beast of the forest, and cattle upon a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), is a luxury only afforded to those who are in Christ.

To take advantage of God’s promise to hear our prayers, we must do two things.  First, we must believe that God is listening to us.  Praying without faith is no better than not praying at all.

James 1:5-6 (ESV)
⁵  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Praying with complete confidence and faith is a powerful tool that we have at our disposal.  Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be your” (Mark 11:24).  Let us take advantage of the power of prayer and use it with thanksgiving in our hearts.

This leads us to the second thing we must do if God’s promise to hear our prayers is to impact our lives.  This may sound obvious but I must state it anyway—we must make a habit of praying.  Though prayer is one of our greatest blessings, it only helps us if we do it.  Many leave blessings in heaven simply because they never ask for them.  James wrote, “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).  This is why Jesus encouraged His disciples to pray.

Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV)
⁷  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Isn’t this an encouragement to pray?  In another place, we find Jesus giving a parable for the specific purpose of provoking His disciples to pray.  Luke said, “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  Paul encourages us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

We can trust that we serve a God who hears us when we address Him in prayer.  We know this because He promised He would, and He always keeps His Word.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.