“Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament. Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:1-3).

The longer I spend looking at the verses above (not to mention the rest of Psalm 5), the more audacious they seem for me to speak alongside the psalmist.

I, sinful man that I am, can talk to God—the holy Lord who made the universe itself and holds everything together by his word—and know that he hears me?

I, flawed and forgetful man that I am, can lay my requests—all the many things on my heart and mind—before God and wait expectantly for his reply?

Yes, I can. What undeserved mercy and love!

That same mercy and love are yours through faith in Christ Jesus, dear Christian.

I need the reminder of that amazing truth every day. Because when you have constant access to something so incredible, it can be all too easy to lose sight of what it really is.

It can be easy for me to take God’s gift of prayer for granted or wait expectantly for God’s answers because I feel that I’ve earned the requests . . . demands . . . I’m making of him. And then when he doesn’t answer me the way I think he should, I feel like God has let me down, even though he hasn’t.

It can also be easy for me to go without talking to God altogether because I think it won’t make a difference; I think God will just do what he will do, regardless of my prayers. Not so! Scripture tells us that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

Not only that, in his Word, God tells us that he wants to hear us. He wants us to approach him with our thoughts, our prayers of intercession, thanksgiving, lamentation, and praise. He wants us to give him our burdens, our fears, our worries, and our anxieties because he cares for us.

God has compassion for us as a father cares deeply for his kids.

God listens to us. Always. At any time of day or night, morning, afternoon, or evening, he is right here—with us and for us. He always has time for us. He always hears us. Why? Jesus is the reason we are heard. He is the reason we can lay our requests before God and wait expectantly for his answer. Always.

Through his perfect life, innocent death, and triumphant resurrection from the grave, our Savior has removed our sins, which once separated us from our holy, righteous God. Now, we may approach God’s throne of grace as his dearly loved children. We can be confident that God hears our prayers and answers them according to his good and gracious will for us.

God, forgive us for the times we abuse or neglect your gift of prayer. Help us see it as just that—an undeserved gift. Focus and form our prayers in our Savior’s name. Remind us that you always answer us in the way that you know is best. Help us not despise this gift or use it sparingly. Rather, help us humbly and gratefully, boldly and confidently, speak to you every day.

We know you hear and answer us for Jesus’ sake.

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