- Hear me
Psalm 55:17
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud:
And he shall hear my voice.
The repeated promise that God will hear our prayers (hear my voice) encourages us to pray, even to cry aloud often, at least 3 times a day. Three times a day seems to be fairly standard practice for praying to God: Daniel, though forbidden, still prayed three times every day, in public defying the lion’s den. There is no prescription for frequency of prayer; just “pray without ceasing.” Considering our sin and our need it would seem like three times a day would be the minimum required.
God promises to hear: this means that prayer can never be considered useless, a waste of time or that it never works. Therefore the promise to “hear my voice” says to me, “If I am listening, why are you not talking? Talk to me; I care; I listen; I will respond to your prayer requests.” Whether the response from God is “Yes, No, or Wait” it is helpful for me to pay attention to the Lord’s answers. Often I can wait in faith knowing that the Lord has heard me and He is taking me into consideration.
When I walk by sight I do not usually hear or see God hearing, and trusting in my own understanding and experience I see nothing and so I give up on God and neglect prayer. Then I walk by faith and I know God hears; I persist in prayer even more faithfully. Even if I don’t see with my eyes I know God hears my prayer and gives answers; how do I know? Because God said so in his Word and Promise. I pray, leave it with the Lord, and go happily about my day (3x): God said I could.