The Greek eisakouō means to hear attentively or to heed — it implies a response to what is heard, not merely passive reception. Paul uses it in 2 Corinthians 6:2, quoting Isaiah 49:8: 'In the time of my favor I heard (eisēkousa) you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' God's hearing is always redemptive. The word also appears in Luke 1:13 when Gabriel tells Zechariah: 'Your prayer has been heard (eisēkousthē).'
The eisakouō of God is the heart of prayer theology in both testaments. Gabriel's announcement to Zechariah — 'your prayer has been heard' — refers to decades of faithful intercession for a child, finally answered in the birth of John the Baptist. The word implies that God not only registered the prayer but acted upon it. The apostolic confidence in prayer (1 John 5:14-15) rests on the same conviction: God's hearing is never passive. He hears in order to respond. Paul's quotation of Isaiah 49:8 in 2 Corinthians 6:2 applies this to the gospel: 'now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation' — the hearing has produced the great answer.