God loves to listen - Written by Atsuko Sibuya

Many years ago, while in prayer for a team of dear ladies who were traveling to Uganda, the Lord gave me a

picture of me grabbing His beard and looking straight into His face as I prayed, like a little child will do

when she wants the full attention of her papa. I found myself preaching aloud to myself about how the

Lord wants to listen to our prayers, and He wants to answer them! 

I began to recognize a truth that seems so simple and yet so easy to overlook. We’ve been taught that

the Lord wants us to come boldly to Him with our intercession and prayers. The truth is also that He is

so willing to listen to and answer our prayers. When we don’t believe that God is listening to us, it’s

easy to miss or downplay His answers to prayer and miss the opportunity to grow in our prayer life with

Him.

Psalm 116:1-2 New Living Translation

I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. 

Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

I was reflecting on this verse one day as I was praying for a dear friend of mine who was experiencing

trouble in her life. I saw in my imagination a giant ear. “What is this about?” I wondered. The Lord

explained to me that this was His ear, bent down to listen to me as I prayed! His ear was so large, I

could have stepped right into it. I could even whisper, and the Lord would have no trouble

understanding me.

From that moment, Psalm 116:1-2 became precious life verses for me. When I pray instead of staring

at the ceiling and wondering where God is, I imagine – and know – that His ear is bent down close to

me. Prayer feels like connection with God instead of a push or even hard work. I realized that the most

important awareness to have when praying is to know that God is right there, in the invisible realm,

listening closely to my words and thoughts as I reach out to Him.

Over the past year, as I’ve been seeking and praying God’s promises from Scripture, I’ve been shocked

to discover how many verses declare that God is listening to and answers our prayers. Here are a

handful of these verses (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible):

Psalm 3:4

I cry aloud to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy mountain.

Psalm 4:3

Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him.

Psalm 22:24

For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He did not hide His face from

him but listened when he cried to Him for help.

Psalm 118:5

I called to the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place.

Psalm 120:1

In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me.

Psalm 138:3

On the day I called, You answered me; You increased strength within me.

From my experience, the emphasis on prayer has often been exhorting us to pray, why to pray and how

to pray. Learning that God is listening to us is key, however, in establishing faith that He indeed hears

us. Seeing in Scripture that He answers prayer gives us faith to be on the alert for His answers, ready

to thank Him for His help and wisdom.

Even more amazing is this verse (from the Amplified Bible):

Proverbs 15:8b

…the prayer of the upright is God’s delight!

Not only does the Lord listen closely to our prayers – our prayers are His delight! He loves when we’re

praying for our loved ones, for His help and wisdom for our lives, for His intervention in the world

around us…God loves our prayers!

Beyond the invisible, in the air around us, is our God, ready to welcome us warmly as we take the time

to pray to Him. Leaving you with one more amazing verse (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible):

Psalm 119:26

I told You about my life, and You listened to me…