Expecting God To Listen

Bow down Your ear to me,… – Psalm 31.2, NKJV

We are invited to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5.17). To talk to God about anything and everything is the invitation we are given by God himself. But have you ever stopped to acknowledge what God must do when we pray? And we expect him to do this every time.

We expect him to listen.

Does this cause you to be overwhelmed by the grace and mercy that God has for us? The God of all things, the King of the universe, listens to us. He interacts with us. The Holy Spirit intercedes when we don’t know how to pray (Romans 8.26-27). Jesus also intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8.34; Hebrews 7.25). But in all things, God listens to us. In a world where we call help lines and get recordings and are told to press certain numbers to get to certain people, or now with AI, we speak to companies through a computer “personality.” But not with the Lord. He listens.

But look at how David explains what happens when we pray. David asks God to “bow down your ear to me.” The CSB translates it, “Listen closely to me,” while the ESV translates it, “Incline your ear to me.” Doesn’t this seem like a demand that we make on the Lord? And why insist that God listen closely? Is he ever distracted, where he needs to be reminded to listen more closely, compared to when he listens at any other time? But again, David prays that God would listen closely to him because he needed God to hear him. The creature requested the Creator to pay attention to what he had to share with him. And it seems like a comfortable request made by David because he knew that we’ve been invited to come before the Lord with boldness so we may receive mercy and help in our times of need (Hebrews 4.16). 

“Listen” to what Scripture teaches us about our coming before the Lord in prayer and God’s response to us when we do.

Know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. – Psalm 4.3, CSB

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. – Psalm 34.17, CSB

However, God has listened; he has paid attention to the sound of my prayer. Blessed be God! He has not turned away my prayer or turned his faithful love from me. – Psalm 66.19-20, CSB

Because he has turned his ear to me, I will call out to him as long as I live. – Psalm 116.2, CSB

“Even before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.” – Isaiah 65.24, CSB

I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: Do not ignore my cry for relief. You came near whenever I called you; you said, “Do not be afraid.” – Lamentations 3.55-57, CSB

… because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. – 1 Peter 3.12, CSB

This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him. – 1 John 5.14-15, CSB

So pray. Pray because God himself bends his ear to hear every word. He inclines his ear to hear every request. He listens closely to hear every story of celebration. 

Thank you, God, for listening to us.