None of us has any independent strength. At every point of our life, we depend upon Allah to offer us His mercy, bestow some of His kindness and blessings, and protect and ensure our safety. Our Lord, the possessor of infinite mercy, informs people that He will respond to their supplications and prayers.

If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me. They should, therefore, respond to Me and believe in Me so that, hopefully, they will be rightly guided. (Surat al-Baqara, 186)

Your Lord says: “Call on Me, and I will answer you. Those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell abject.” (Surah Ghafir, 60)

The fact that Allah, the sole sovereign and owner of everything that exists, whether spiritual or temporal, Who hears every prayer, knows everything that goes through a person’s mind, and responds to each prayer is a great blessing and mercy.

We will certainly help Our messengers and those who believe both in the life of this world and on the Day the witnesses appear. (Surah Ghafir, 51)

While making a supplication, we can ask for anything that we want, provided that we adhere to Allah’s will and observe the limits that He has set for humanity. The Qur’an contains many of the prophets’ supplications and reveals how He responded to them:

And Ayyub, when he called out to his Lord: “Great harm has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful,” We responded to him, removed the harm that was afflicting him, and restored his family to him, and the same again with them, as a mercy direct from Us and a Reminder to all worshippers. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 83-84)

And Zakariyya, when he called out to his Lord: “My Lord, do not leave me on my own, though You are the Best of Inheritors.” We responded to him and gave him Yahya, restoring for him his wife’s fertility. They outdid one another in good actions, calling out to Us in yearning and in awe, and humbling themselves to Us. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 89-90)

Nuh called out to Us, and what an excellent Responder We are. We rescued him and his family from the terrible plight, and made his descendants the survivors (Surat as-Saffat, 75-77)

Moreover, He accepts the supplications of everyone in distress and the needy:

He Who responds to the oppressed when they call on Him and removes their distress, and has appointed you as inheritors of the land. Is there another deity besides Allah? How little you pay heed! (Surat an-Naml, 62)

A person who sees his or her supplications answered experiences great joy. To know that Allah is always with you, constantly seeing, hearing, and knowing everything connected with you causes you to hope that Allah will help you in every task that you undertake and accept every request that you make as long as you are sincere. This increases a believer’s love, submission, and closeness to Allah.