In Psalms, chapter seventeen, verse one, the psalmist’s cry to the Lord to hear his prayer is founded not only on God’s mercy and grace but also on his faithful obedience to God’s will and ways, as in verses one through five. God has searched his heart and found that his endeavor to please Him is no pretense, as in First John three, verses eighteen through twenty-one. David appeals to God based on his faithfulness and expresses the fundamental truth that God has promised to hear the prayers of those who love and honor Him. The first indispensable condition of true prayer is a clear conscience and a pure life.
Why are some prayers answered and others are not? The solution for a prayer life to be effective is related to our devotion to God, which is the difference. Obeying, loving, and pleasing God, as in John eight, verse twenty-nine, and Second Corinthians, verse nine, Ephesians five, verse ten, and Hebrews thirteen, verse twenty-one, are indispensable conditions to receive what we ask for in prayer, as in Psalms fifty, verses fourteen through fifteen, Proverbs fifteen, verses twenty-nine, Isaiah fifty-nine, verses one to two, Matthew six, verse fifteen, Mark eleven, verse twenty-five, and James five, verses sixteen, respectively.
The theme verse under the Deliverance of the Wicked section begins with hearing the prayer to God. The Lord hears and sees everything humans say and do on earth. He especially attends to the cry of the faithful who pour out their hearts to Him in prayer. However, like a father to his children, God is the only one who can determine how He will answer whatever we say. We cannot tell the Creator of the universe how to respond and what to grant to us from the prayer we send up to Him.