For some people, prayer is...
He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
O You who hear prayer...
Psalm 94:9; Psalm 65:2
For some people, prayer is limited to reciting a few memorised verses. But actually, praying means turning to God and speaking to Him as a child speaks to their father. God hears every single prayer – even if millions of people all over the world are talking to Him at the same time. Not a single word or thought escapes Him.
Various psalms of David explicitly confirm this to us: “You understand my thoughts afar off. ... For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether”. “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth” (Psalm 139:2, 4; 33:13–14).
Praying means presenting our needs and desires to God, and having the assurance that He hears us and that He will answer in accordance with His infinite love and perfect wisdom. He knows what is good for all who turn to Him.
In a certain sense, God desires dialogue: He speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, and we are invited to speak to Him through prayer.
It honours God when we turn to Him in prayer and present all our concerns to Him, and He is eager to answer us. Of course, the prerequisite for this is that we are humble and sincere, and that our prayer requests please God. Those who offer selfish prayers need not be surprised at the lack of answers.
Those who are still far from God will not be used to saying unscripted prayers. They must first enter into a living relationship with God. But even this happens through prayer: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).
Today’s reading: Ezra 2:1-70 · Proverbs 4:1-9
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