1 John 5:14

5:14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that ¹  whenever ²  we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Psalms 10:17

10:17 Lord, you have heard ³  the request ⁴  of the oppressed;

you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. ⁵ 

Psalms 34:4

34:4 I sought the Lord’s help ⁶  and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalms 34:15-17

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ⁷ 

34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers

and wipes out all memory of them from the earth. ⁸ 

34:17 The godly ⁹  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ¹¹ 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ¹² 

Psalms 66:18-19

66:18 If I had harbored sin in my heart, ¹³ 

the Lord would not have listened.

66:19 However, God heard;

he listened to my prayer.

Psalms 145:18-19

145:18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,

all who cry out to him sincerely. ¹⁴ 

145:19 He satisfies the desire ¹⁵  of his loyal followers; ¹⁶ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

Proverbs 15:29

15:29 The Lord is far ¹⁷  from the wicked,

but he hears ¹⁸  the prayer of the righteous. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 28:9

28:9 The one who turns away his ear ²⁰  from hearing the law,

even his prayer ²¹  is an abomination. ²² 

Isaiah 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ²³ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 55:6-7

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ²⁵ 

call to him while he is nearby!

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ²⁶ 

and sinful people their plans. ²⁷ 

They should return ²⁸  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ²⁹ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 29:12-13

29:12 When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, ³¹  I will hear your prayers. ³²  29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, ³³ 

Jeremiah 33:3

33:3 ‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious ³⁴  things which you still do not know about.’

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask ³⁵  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door ³⁶  will be opened for you. 7:8 For everyone who asks ³⁷  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 21:22

21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, ³⁸  you will receive.”

Mark 11:24

11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Luke 11:9-13

11:9 “So ³⁹  I tell you: Ask, ⁴⁰  and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door ⁴¹  will be opened for you. 11:10 For everyone who asks ⁴²  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door ⁴³  will be opened. 11:11 What father among you, if your ⁴⁴  son asks for ⁴⁵  a fish, will give him a snake ⁴⁶  instead of a fish? 11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ⁴⁷  11:13 If you then, although you are ⁴⁸  evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit ⁴⁹  to those who ask him!”

John 9:31

9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to ⁵⁰  sinners, but if anyone is devout ⁵¹  and does his will, God ⁵²  listens to ⁵³  him. ⁵⁴ 

John 14:13

14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, ⁵⁵  so that the Father may be glorified ⁵⁶  in the Son.

John 15:7

15:7 If you remain ⁵⁷  in me and my words remain ⁵⁸  in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. ⁵⁹ 

John 16:23-24

16:23 At that time ⁶⁰  you will ask me nothing. I tell you the solemn truth, ⁶¹  whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ⁶²  16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ⁶³  so that your joy may be complete.

James 1:5

1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

James 5:16

5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ⁶⁴ 

[5:14]  ¹ tn For the third time in 5:9-14 the author uses the construction αὕτη ἐστίν ({auth estin; 5:9, 11, 14). As in the previous instance (5:11) the ὅτι (Joti) clause which follows is epexegetical (explanatory) to the pronoun αὕτη and explains what the “confidence” (παρρησία, parrhsia) consists of (technically the subject is ἡ παρρησία, the predicate nominative is the pronoun αὕτη, and the ὅτι clause explains the predicate nominative): “And the confidence which we have before him is this, namely, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

[5:14]  ² tn A third-class condition is introduced by ἐάν (ean) + present subjunctive. Because the apodosis also contains a present tense verb (ἀκούει, akouei) this belongs in a subcategory of third-class conditional sentences known as present general. In the Koine period ἐάν can mean “when” or “whenever” and is virtually the equivalent of ὅταν (Jotan; see BDAG 268 s.v. ἐάν 2). Thus the meaning here is, “whenever (i.e., if) we ask anything according to his will, then he hears us.”

[10:17]  ³ sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.

[10:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “desire.”

[10:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”

[34:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “I sought the Lord.”

[34:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[34:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the face of the Lord [is] against the doers of evil to cut off from the earth memory of them.”

[34:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ¹⁰ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[50:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

[50:15]  ¹² sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

[66:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “sin if I had seen in my heart.”

[145:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in truth.”

[145:19]  ¹⁵ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[15:29]  ¹⁷ sn To say that the Lord is “far” from the wicked is to say that he has made himself unavailable to their appeal – he does not answer them. This motif is used by David throughout Psalm 22 for the problem of unanswered prayer – “Why are you far off?”

[15:29]  ¹⁸ sn The verb “hear” (שָׁמַע, shama’) has more of the sense of “respond to” in this context. If one “listens to the voice of the Lord,” for example, it means that he obeys the Lord. If one wishes God to “hear his prayer,” it means he wishes God to answer it.

[15:29]  ¹⁹ sn God’s response to prayer is determined by the righteousness of the one who prays. A prayer of repentance by the wicked is an exception, for by it they would become the righteous (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 316).

[28:9]  ²⁰ sn The expression “turn away the ear from hearing” uses a metonymy to mean that this individual will not listen – it indicates a deliberate refusal to follow the instruction of the law.

[28:9]  ²¹ sn It is hard to imagine how someone who willfully refuses to obey the law of God would pray according to the will of God. Such a person is more apt to pray for some physical thing or make demands on God. (Of course a prayer of repentance would be an exception and would not be an abomination to the Lord.)

[28:9]  ²² sn C. H. Toy says, “If a man, on his part, is deaf to instruction, then God, on his part, is deaf to prayer” (Proverbs [ICC], 499). And W. McKane observes that one who fails to attend to God’s law is a wicked person, even if he is a man of prayer (Proverbs [OTL], 623).

[1:15]  ²³ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ²⁴ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[55:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[55:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ²⁹ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ³⁰ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[29:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “come and pray to me.” This is an example of verbal hendiadys where two verb formally joined by “and” convey a main concept with the second verb functioning as an adverbial qualifier.

[29:12]  ³² tn Or “You will call out to me and come to me in prayer and I will hear your prayers.” The verbs are vav consecutive perfects and can be taken either as unconditional futures or as contingent futures. See GKC 337 §112.kk and 494 §159.g and compare the usage in Gen 44:22 for the use of the vav consecutive perfects in contingent futures. The conditional clause in the middle of 29:13 and the deuteronomic theology reflected in both Deut 30:1-5 and 1 Kgs 8:46-48 suggest that the verbs are continent futures here. For the same demand for wholehearted seeking in these contexts which presuppose exile see especially Deut 30:2, 1 Kgs 8:48.

[29:13]  ³³ tn Or “If you wholeheartedly seek me”; Heb “You will seek me and find [me] because you will seek me with all your heart.” The translation attempts to reflect the theological nuances of “seeking” and “finding” and the psychological significance of “heart” which refers more to intellectual and volitional concerns in the OT than to emotional ones.

[33:3]  ³⁴ tn This passive participle or adjective is normally used to describe cities or walls as “fortified” or “inaccessible.” All the lexicons, however, agree in seeing it used here metaphorically of “secret” or “mysterious” things, things that Jeremiah could not know apart from the Lord’s revelation. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 170) make the interesting observation that the word is used here in a context in which the fortifications of Jerusalem are about to fall to the Babylonians; the fortified things in God’s secret counsel fall through answer to prayer.

[7:7]  ³⁵ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[7:7]  ³⁶ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.

[7:8]  ³⁷ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[21:22]  ³⁸ tn Grk “believing”; the participle here is conditional.

[11:9]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.

[11:9]  ⁴⁰ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[11:9]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:10]  ⁴² sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 9 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[11:10]  ⁴³ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[11:11]  ⁴⁵ tc Most mss (א A C D L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy^c,p,h bo) have “bread, does not give him a stone instead, or” before “a fish”; the longer reading, however, looks like a harmonization to Matt 7:9. The shorter reading is thus preferred, attested by Ì^45,75 B 1241 pc sy^s sa.

[11:11]  ⁴⁶ sn The snake probably refers to a water snake.

[11:12]  ⁴⁷ sn The two questions of vv. 11-12 expect the answer, “No father would do this!”

[11:13]  ⁴⁸ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a concessive participle.

[11:13]  ⁴⁹ sn The provision of the Holy Spirit is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. Some apply it to the general provision of the Spirit, but this would seem to look only at one request in a context that speaks of repeated asking. The teaching as a whole stresses not that God gives everything his children want, but that God gives the good that they need. The parallel account in Matthew (7:11) refers to good things where Luke mentions the Holy Spirit.

[9:31]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “God does not hear.”

[9:31]  ⁵¹ tn Or “godly.”

[9:31]  ⁵² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:31]  ⁵³ tn Or “hears.”

[9:31]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “this one.”

[14:13]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”

[14:13]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “may be praised” or “may be honored.”

[15:7]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ⁵⁹ sn Once again Jesus promises the disciples ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. This recalls 14:13-14, where the disciples were promised that if they asked anything in Jesus’ name it would be done for them. The two thoughts are really quite similar, since here it is conditioned on the disciples’ remaining in Jesus and his words remaining in them. The first phrase relates to the genuineness of their relationship with Jesus. The second phrase relates to their obedience. When both of these qualifications are met, the disciples would in fact be asking in Jesus’ name and therefore according to his will.

[16:23]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “And in that day.”

[16:23]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[16:23]  ⁶² sn This statement is also found in John 15:16.

[16:24]  ⁶³ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:16]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”