Does God hear our prayers?

Have you ever found it though to pray? That can happen when were reluctant to tell God how were really feeling. We might abruptly stop in mid-sentence, fearful of being disrespectful of our heavenly Father.

A trip through the book of psalms can help us pray more open. There we can overhear David's conversation with God and realized that he was not afraid to be completely open and honest with the Lord.David cried out "O Lord do not rebuke me in your anger (Psalms 6:1), " Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak"(Psalm 6:2)," Why do you stand afar off, O Lord"(Psalm 10:1), " Do not be silent to me"(Psalm 28:1), "Plead my cause, O Lord"(Psalm 35:1), " Hear my prayer, O God"(Psalm 54:2), " I an restless in my complaint and moan noisily" (Psalm 55:2). Think about David's approach. He was saying to God and told Him what was on his mind. Yes, God expects us to come to Him with a clean heart, and we need to approach Him with reverence but we don't have to be afraid to tell god what were thinking and feeling.

Jesus said we will received from God what we ask for Him(Matthew 7:7-8). But there are conditions. For example, John said we must obey God and do what pleases Him ( 1 John 3:22). This includes believing in His Son and loving one another. If we don't meet God's conditions, our prayers will be ineffective.

On the basis of his prayer, we can assure that he took his relationship with God seriously. There was no magic in the words of his prayer. Rather he knows that God is the giver of all things.