The Prophet (saws) has said in a Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira: Make Dua and be assured of being answered, and know that Allah does not answer a Dua from a careless heart which is not concentrating.
I dont have a reference of any ayat or hadith at the moment, but thankyou for opening such a wonderful thread.
ALLAH is always listening and watching us and HE knows whats going on in our lives and in our minds. We are quick on saying:
WTF, $hit,Holy Crap,Jesus etc , when something terrible happens
but only if we remember ALLAH at that time and say "YA-ALLAH help me" , that can do wonders and take us out from that trouble, only if we have faith in ALLAH.