Psalm 17:6 “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.”

[Your faithfulness, Lord, is the impetus for prayer. You Will hear, you Will answer, you Will help–because it is your nature to be faithful!

As my wife says, you, Lord, always answer with one of four possible replies to our prayers: “Yes,” “No,” “Wait,” or “Are you kidding?!!” I am so glad that you did not give a “yes” to some of the outrageous or foolish things I’ve asked for.

We can be so certain of your answering, that in any circumstance we can give thanks before we see any sign of an answer. Your Word tells us in Psalm 23 that “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my  life.” That means that many times, at the moment, we can’t see your goodness and mercy, but can know that we will understand later and see the answers you’ve given to our prayer.

George Muller, the great prayer warrior of the past, said that in praying he would try to bring himself to the place where a “Yes” or a “No” were both acceptable to him. That’s surrender, that’s trusting God, that’s knowing that He will answer, He will give ear to me and hear my prayer.

We can fully rest in you now before the answer comes. We don’t have to panic, we don’t have to cling to our desired outcome, we don’t have to be afraid. We can, before an answer comes, know that you will faithfully do what is best. Your promise to hear and answer was David’s hope–and ours, too.