Does God Hear My Prayers?

The blessings involved in prayer are difficult to understand. And I think almost all of us have wondered at some point some of these questions:

Does God hear my prayer? How do I know? Why can't I hear His answer?

But I believe these questions are based on a critical assumption that may be wrong. That critical assumption: We know God hears our prayer when (and only when) he answers them in the way that we want (a very clear way). However, today I read a few scriptures that reminded me of other motivations for and proofs of prayer.

We're probably all familiar with other forms of prayer: giving thanks and praise. However, in today's passages, even petition (asking for something) is much more than receiving what we asked for. We receive what we didn't ask for.

Faith

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” ~Daniel 3:16-18

Here we see S, M and A who were going to be thrown into the fire for not bowing before 'gods' made of gold as the king had decreed. And though they are not physically praying at the moment, I believe that they must've (at least in their hearts) been praying to the one true God. And what they are saying is quite impressive. While they have full faith in God, they are accepting that there is the possibility that God's will is for them not to make it out of the furnace. The verse "even if he does not, we want you to know... that we will not serve your gods..." is very powerful (v. 18). It's not what God will or won't do for them in their need that makes Him God. God is God independent of what He does for individual people.

In prayer, we can express our need for faith. Like the man who said to Jesus, "Help my disbelief." And in my own experience, the mere act of prayer can serve to strengthen my faith. By praying, we are calling out to the Lord. By calling out to the Lord, we are reaffirming His existence and the need, the thirst, the hunger and desire we have for Him in our lives. So whether we get what we want out of prayer (a healed body, the job position, etc), we get something that we desperately need... renewed and strengthened faith.

A Connection with God

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. ~1 John 5:13-15

This verse, to me, seems to echo a similar theme. However, I believe some may read this very differently, causing confusion and questions like "Does God hear my prayers?" But, if we look closely, we see the repetition of "He hears us". That seems to take prominence in this short passage. So, I suggest that perhaps what is more essential than receiving the correct response is the fact that "He hears us." If we stop to think about it, having a God that listens to and hears our prayers is already an amazing blessing. To be able to have a personal connection with Him is, like faith, among those things that we need most. So, whether we receive the answer we want or not, whether we receive it or not...we have asked Him to listen to us, and He has done that. And so we have what we have asked of Him.

It's still difficult to read this, and to get answers that we do not want. We pray for a healthy baby, but sometimes that healing doesn't happen... or it happens at a later date. We pray for peace in Nigerian Church of the Brethren, but that has not happened. In a personal example, yesterday Brad and I were the only ones at our Church Start, since the pastor is helping with a program in Costa Rica. Since we have been praying for quite some time that this church would grow, it was disheartening, but together we prayed some more... that individuals would come, that they would come to know Christ more deeply through reading the scripture together. And somehow, even though no one else entered to worship with us, we both felt renewed after time in prayer. We had what we had asked of Him, at least in part, and we knew that God had heard us! What an amazing blessing!

If you need to renew your faith, to connect with God or anything else, pray this morning. God hears your prayers. Though they may not be answered right away, though they may not be answered in the way you would like, it is a sweet salve to your soul that is a blessing to experience. How amazing to call upon the Lord and know and feel that He hears us.