What other scriptures highlight God's promise to hear prayers directed to Him? Listening Eyes Open: 2 Chronicles 6:20 “May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place You have said You would put Your Name. May You hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.” • Solomon trusted that God literally keeps His eyes and ears on His dwelling and on those who pray • The verse sets a pattern: God’s presence, God’s Name, God’s promise to hear Echoes in the Psalms • Psalm 65:2 — “O You who listen to prayer, to You all men will come.” • Psalm 34:15-17 — “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry … The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears and delivers them from all their troubles.” • Psalm 145:18-19 — “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” • Psalm 86:5-7 — “For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You … In the day of my distress I call on You, because You answer me.” Each citation underscores that God not only invites prayer but also actively listens and rescues in real time. Wisdom and Temple Connections • Proverbs 15:29 — “The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.” • 1 Kings 8:29 (Solomon’s parallel prayer) — “May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day … to hear the prayer that Your servant shall offer toward this place.” • 2 Chronicles 7:14 — “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray … then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” God links hearing to righteousness, humility, and covenant loyalty. Prophetic Assurance • Jeremiah 33:3 — “Call to Me and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” • Isaiah 65:24 — “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” The prophets declare that God’s responsiveness precedes even the spoken request. Jesus Confirms the Father’s Listening Ear • Matthew 7:7-11 — “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you … your Father in heaven will give good things to those who ask Him.” • John 14:13-14 — “I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.” • John 15:7 — “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Jesus places no ambiguity on the Father’s attentiveness and adds the authority of His own name to the promise. Assurance in the Early Church • Hebrews 4:16 — “Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” • 1 John 5:14-15 — “This is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us … we already possess what we have asked of Him.” • 1 Peter 3:12 — “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer.” • James 5:16 — “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” The apostles taught that God’s ear remains open, fulfilling the same literal promises first voiced in the temple era. Living the Promise Today • Scripture speaks with one voice from Solomon to the apostles • God’s hearing is not figurative but factual, rooted in His unchanging character • Praying “toward His Name” now centers on Christ, the true Temple, guaranteeing that every petition reaches the throne • These verses invite steady, confident, righteous prayer, anchored in the certainty that God truly listens |
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