In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me.
Psalm 120:1

What a blessing it is to know that God hears our prayers when we cry out to Him. But think for a moment what it cost Christ so that God would hear our prayers.

Isaiah 59:2 tells us how our sins lock our prayers. “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” This being the case, we should not expect God to hear any of our prayers.

Jesus, of course, never sinned in any way. There are no sins to block His prayers, therefore, His prayers would always be heard and answered. When He hung on the cross, God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) What are the ramifications of prayers (His and ours) because of this?

When Jesus hung on the cross, having all our sins laid on Him, His prayers went unheard. (“Why have you forsaken Me?”), so that the prayers of the redeemed, who are robed in His righteousness, would always heard by God. And even when we who are saved do not know how to pray as we ought, “the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

Our prayers are heard because, for our benefit, His prayers were not. Thank You, Lord!