He hears my prayers!

Scripture:
For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

Observation:
The end of this anonymous psalm contains the heart-felt gratitude of the author, which comes from his great appreciation for God listening to his prayer. One could try to infer that the author’s prayer was answered, but we only know for sure that his prayer was heard by God. There are two key points that the writer notes as to why God heard his prayer: (1) he praises God as he prays and (2) he confesses his sin in his heart.

Application:
Have you (and me) tried to pray to God and seem to have your prayers just bounce off the ceiling and come reeling back to the ground? Well, let us take an inventory of our hearts to see if there is anything there which would and could separate us from God. It would be sin in us that causes such things to happen.

Now, God is true to his word and never leaves us or abandons us, but periods or times of temporary separation do come when sin captivates or has a hold on us. Why? Because we allow ourselves to become servants/slaves to sin instead of God. We are still the children of God, just disobedient children.

The Lord will come to us as God the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins and to chastise us as his children. He will even go so far as to lead us back into his truth IF we will humble ourselves and confess our sins, which God the Father is faithful and just to forgive when we do so.

Let us take this time to search our hearts, realize the wrong within us, confess it to God, praise him for his greatness, and be free to live in him and for him once more, knowing that he hears our prayers and answers them as well. All glory, honor, and power belong to him!

Prayer:
Father, how great you are! You are the beginning and end of all things. For everything that exists was made by you and for you! We are here for your great pleasure. We live and move have our being in you, for without you we can do nothing. Therefore, I confess the sin in my heart. As your loving Son, Jesus, taught me, I ask for my daily portion but also ask that you forgive my sins, as I forgive those who’ve sinned against me. May your ear always lean toward the earth to hear the prayers of your people. I entreat you, great and mighty God, to not only hear the prayers of the righteous but answer them as well, please. We give you all glory and honor. In Jesus’ name, Amen.