I Kings 8-9

“Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive” (8:30).  Over and over in Solomon’s prayer of dedication, he asks God to “listen and hear” the prayers of Israel.  The gods of ancient times were arbitrary and distant, not compassionate or close, so ordinary people didn’t have a secure belief in “a God who hears.”  But Solomon prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

As beloved children, redeemed in Christ, we can be confident that the God who heard Abraham, David, Hannah and Ruth also hears us.