The Grammar of Answered Prayer: A Clear Connection Text: Psalm 66:16-20
Introduction: Prayers Bouncing Off the Ceiling
We live in an age of casual Christianity where prayer is often treated as a kind of spiritual wishing well. We toss our requests into the void and hope for the best. When nothing happens, we conclude either that God is not there, or that He is not listening, or that His mysterious will is simply unknowable. We have a generation of Christians who feel that their prayers are consistently bouncing off a brass ceiling, and they have no idea why. They have been taught a form of cheap grace that presents God as a doting, cosmic grandfather who would never be so particular as to have conditions for fellowship.
But the Scriptures paint a very different picture. The Bible teaches that there is a direct and unbreakable connection between the state of our heart and the receptivity of God's ear. Our relationship with God is a real relationship, and like any real relationship, it can be hindered by our behavior. If a husband is being unfaithful to his wife, he cannot then expect her to respond to his requests for dinner with warmth and intimacy. The lines of communication have been compromised by his duplicity. So it is with God, but on an infinitely more serious level.
This psalm gives us a glorious and straightforward diagnostic tool. It is not a complicated formula. It is the simple grammar of answered prayer. It shows us the joy of a public testimony, the link between prayer and praise, the great disqualifier that blocks our prayers, and the ultimate foundation for all of it, which is the covenant faithfulness of God. If you want to know how to pray prayers that God actually hears, this passage lays it out with beautiful clarity. It is a summons to integrity, a call to repentance, and a profound encouragement to all who would approach the throne of grace with a clean heart.
The Text
Come and hear, all who fear God,
And I will recount what He has done for my soul.
I called out to Him with my mouth,
And He was exalted with my tongue.
If I see wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;
But certainly God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.
(Psalm 66:16-20 LSB)
A Public Declaration (v. 16)
The psalmist begins with a corporate invitation.
"Come and hear, all who fear God, And I will recount what He has done for my soul." (Psalm 66:16)
Notice first that this testimony is not a private affair. It is a public summons to the covenant community, "all who fear God." Our modern, individualistic piety wants to keep our faith private, a quiet matter between "me and Jesus." The biblical pattern is the opposite. God's work in an individual's life is meant to be a public encouragement for the entire body. When God answers your prayer, it is not just for you. It is a testimony to His faithfulness that is meant to build up your brothers and sisters. Your victory is their victory.
And what is he recounting? Not his feelings, not his spiritual experiences, but "what He has done." The focus is entirely on the objective, historical action of God. God is the subject. God is the one who acts. The psalmist is simply the reporter, the witness. This is the nature of true testimony. It is not about our cleverness or our righteousness; it is about God's powerful intervention in our lives. He did something for my soul, and I am here to tell you about it so that you will be encouraged to trust Him as well.
Prayer and Praise in One Breath (v. 17)
Next, the psalmist describes the act of prayer itself.
"I called out to Him with my mouth, And He was exalted with my tongue." (Psalm 66:17 LSB)
Here, prayer and praise are two sides of the same coin. The same mouth that cries out for help is the tongue that exalts God. This is crucial. True prayer is not a desperate, faithless whining. Even in our supplication, there is an implicit exaltation of God. To ask God for help is to confess that He is the one who is able to help. To cry out to Him is to acknowledge His sovereignty, His power, and His authority. The very act of calling on His name is an act of worship.
This verse rebukes the kind of prayer that is nothing more than a spiritual grocery list, presented to a cosmic bellhop. The psalmist's prayer is robust, vocal, and worshipful. He calls out "with his mouth." This is embodied faith. And the result is that God is "exalted with my tongue." The prayer for deliverance and the praise for the Deliverer are bound together in one and the same action.
The Great Disqualifier (v. 18)
This next verse is the theological center of the passage. It is the great "if," the condition that determines whether the channel of communication is open or closed.
"If I see wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;" (Psalm 66:18 LSB)
Let us be very clear about what this means and what it does not mean. This is not teaching a doctrine of sinless perfection. The psalmist is not saying, "If there is any sin in me, God will not hear me." If that were the case, no one's prayers would ever be heard. The key word here is "see" or, as other translations put it, "regard" or "cherish." The Hebrew word implies looking upon something with favor, making a pet of it, cultivating it.
This is talking about unconfessed, unrepented, cherished sin. It is the little idol you keep on the shelf in the back room of your heart. It is the secret bitterness you are nursing, the private lust you are cultivating, the dishonest practice you are tolerating. It is to approach God in prayer while simultaneously keeping a known sin on a leash, refusing to let it go. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. It is an attempt to serve two masters. And God will not have it. He will not be trifled with. If you are regarding iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you. The line is dead. This is not because He is unable, but because He is holy.
The Divine Confirmation (v. 19)
Because the psalmist knows this principle, he can now draw a confident conclusion from his experience.
"But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer." (Psalm 66:19 LSB)
This is a glorious declaration of assurance. How does he know that he was not, in fact, cherishing wickedness in his heart? Because God answered his prayer. The answered prayer is the external, objective confirmation that his heart was right before God. It is the divine "Amen" to his repentance.
This is not arrogance. He is not saying, "God heard me because I am so righteous." Rather, he is reasoning backwards from effect to cause. "God has heard me; therefore, I know that by His grace, He kept me from cherishing sin." The answered prayer is the evidence of God's grace working both in his heart and in the world. This is how we build confidence in our walk with God. It is not based on our fluctuating feelings, but on the solid reality of God's actions in response to our prayers.
The Unfailing Foundation (v. 20)
The psalm concludes with a doxology that grounds everything in the character of God.
"Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me." (Psalm 66:20 LSB)
This is the foundation upon which everything else rests. Why does God hear the prayer of a repentant heart? Because of His lovingkindness. The Hebrew word is hesed, that rich, covenantal term that means loyal love, steadfast mercy, and unfailing faithfulness. The two clauses are linked. God has not turned away my prayer because He has not turned away His lovingkindness.
Our access to God is not ultimately based on the perfection of our repentance, but on the perfection of His covenant love. It is His hesed that grants us repentance in the first place, and it is His hesed that inclines His ear to us when we cry out. He is a faithful God. He has bound Himself to His people by a covenant of grace. Therefore, when we come to Him with hearts swept clean of cherished idols, we can have full confidence that He will hear us, not because we have earned it, but because He is a God who keeps His promises.
Conclusion: Clearing the Lines
So what is the application for us? It is profoundly simple. If your prayers seem to be hitting a brass ceiling, the first place to look is not outward at the mysterious sovereignty of God, but inward at the state of your own heart. Are you regarding iniquity? Is there a pet sin you are refusing to mortify? Is there a person you are refusing to forgive? Is there a command you are willfully disobeying?
The principle of Psalm 66:18 is not Old Testament legalism; it is New Testament reality. The Apostle John says the same thing: "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3:21-22). Confidence before God is tied to a clean conscience.
The good news of the gospel is not that God has lowered His standards, but that Christ has met them on our behalf, and He gives us the grace of the Holy Spirit to walk in repentance. Christ is the one whose heart was perfectly pure, and whose prayers the Father always heard. When we come to God in His name, we are coming on the basis of His perfect record, not our own. But true faith in Christ means turning from our sin. We cannot claim the benefits of Christ's righteousness while cherishing our own unrighteousness.
Therefore, let us use this psalm as God intended. Let us examine our hearts. Let us confess and forsake any cherished wickedness. And then, with the lines of communication cleared by the grace of God, let us call out to Him with our mouths, exalting Him with our tongues, fully confident that He has not turned away our prayer, nor His lovingkindness from us. Blessed be God.