Does God really listen when I pray?

Psalm 17:6I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.

Psalm 102:17He [the Lord] will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.

Psalm 116:2Because he [the Lord] bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

Isaiah 59:1The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.

1 John 5:14-15We are confident that he [God] hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

God hears every prayer, listens carefully, and answers. His answer may be “yes,” “no,” or “not yet,” but his answer is always whatever is best for us.

Matthew 7:7-11“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

Luke 18:1-4, 7-8One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally . . . he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

God does not listen to our prayers begrudgingly. He is a good heavenly Father who loves his children. Jesus himself encourages us to never give up praying or doubt his goodness!