THIS WILL HELP YOUR PRAYERS
Psalm 116:1-2 NKJV
1 I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The positive tone of our verses for today is something we can all learn from. How we talk about our prayers and our relationship with God is important. These inspired words are here for a reason.
If we polled believers across our nation, I wonder how many would answer in the affirmative to the question does God hear your prayers? I believe there is a general reluctance to boldly proclaim yes. But this psalm gives us a different perspective. The psalmist is declaring that he loves the Lord because the Lord has heard his voice and his appeal for mercy. The psalmist believes that God inclines His ear to his prayers. So the psalmist says he will continue to call upon the Lord as long as he lives. That’s confidence. Way too many believe God hears them when they cuss or say something snarky and unkind. And God does so we are not off the hook. But how about believing that God hears us when we pray? We want to express that same confidence, and here is how we start. Start by simply declaring that God hears my prayers. When you pray, start with how good and great God is, and then thank Him for hearing your prayers. Sounds simple enough, and when you first start declaring this, it may sound awkward in your mouth. But just keep on declaring what God has said in 1 Peter 3:12, “His eyes are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers…”
Another thing that will help your prayers is to pray in line with God’s Word. Find scriptures that back up your prayers. For example, if you need wisdom in an area, and who doesn’t, James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God, who gives it to all liberally. Asking for wisdom is in line with God’s Word, so you can be confident that God hears your prayer for wisdom. First, John 5:14-15 ESV says, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” What a great promise. We can’t always go by how we feel as to whether or not we believe God heard our prayers. We can’t go by the circumstances that surround us to determine if God has heard our prayers. We want to base our prayers on God’s written words and then confidently declare He hears our prayers.
And there is another benefit to being confident that God hears us. When we believe He hears our prayers, we are more prone to keep praying. Believing that we are praying to a God who is leaning our way, inclined to hear us, makes us more willing to go to Him. So today, thank God that He hears you when you pray!
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, that You are not reserved and detached from me. Thank You that You hear me when I pray. So I am going to keep praying, knowing that You will continue to listen.