“I Have Heard Thy Prayer”

Isaiah was on his way out of the king’s residence when the Lord told him to turn back. He had already delivered an unwelcome message to King Hezekiah, who was very ill. “Thou shalt die, and not live” (2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1). But before Isaiah had made it through the courtyard, Hezekiah pleaded with God to remember him.

God sent Isaiah back with a remarkable message, a reversal of his prior one:

I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee …
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

2 Kings 20:5-6; compare Isaiah 38:5

What a remarkable thing it is to know that God has heard our prayers! The Lord had used the same expression once before, in reference to Solomon’s dedicatory prayer on the temple (see 1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles 7:12).

In the Book of Mormon, an angel appears to King Benjamin with the same assurance:

The Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy.

Mosiah 3:4

We may not always receive an immediate response like Solomon and Hezekiah. Sometimes, we may need to offer many prayers before we learn that we have been heard. But all of us who pray will eventually receive assurances that God has heard us.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson declared:

I testify that those who approach the Lord with a sincere heart and real intent, those who have the name of the Savior upon their lips and the Holy Spirit in their souls, those who embark upon this grand and glorious pilgrimage will discover and experience bounteous celestial blessings and receive a witness that God hears you, knows you, and loves you.

“Days Never to Be Forgotten,” October 2024 general conference

Today I will pray, believing that I am heard and that I will be answered.