Can God Really Hear Me When I Pray?
Prayer sometimes seems like something of a hit or miss. Can we really expect them to be heard and if so, will they really be answered? How can we know for certain if God is hearing us or not? The Bible does give us guidelines in which to follow for answered prayer. Not just any prayer will be heard or answered. Sometimes the answer is "No". God doesn't appease us by giving us the things we want and this is where our doubts come in because we don't understand all of it. First of all, God tells us we need to humble ourselves in order to be heard by Him. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14 (KJV) When a person is not humbled he will not be able to pray the way God wants him to. He won't be able to hear God answer him either. For the most part, people have alot of doubts and this is exactly when Satan will begin talking to us. These doubts will cancel out any hope for answered prayer. This however isn't a new problem, it's been happening to mankind since the beginning of time. "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!" Hab. 1:2 "Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book." Job 31:35 (KJV) It's no secret that prayer can be a very mysterious thing. How can we be sure God will hear us? There are some reasons that prayers aren't heard and therefore will not be answered either. If you know these things, you won't have to wait for answers that aren't coming. First of all, God won't answer a prayer that hasn't been prayed. Also, some prayers are asked with all the wrong motives. But James says we have not, because we don't ask! So, in order for a prayer to be answered, it must first be prayed! "...yet ye have not, because ye ask not. " Jm. 4:2 (KJV) Another reason our prayers aren't heard is because we haven't confessed all our sins. God only hears the prayers of a righteous person. This makes sense because a righteous person would not have sins held back from God. But, for a person who loves his sins and manages them on his own, can not expect that God will hear or answer his prayers. In other words, we can't make excuses for our sins. This is the most spoken about reason of all in the Bible. To simply put it, iniquity will always keep a person from God. God can not look upon sin. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Ps. 66:18 (KJV) "The Lord is far from the wicked; but he heareth the prayer of the righteous." Prov. 15:29 (KJV) "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 Jn.1:9 (KJV) How can we be sure if we have confessed all our sins? What about the ones we aren't aware of? Well, that's where the Holy Spirit comes in. It's His job to let us know. If we don't confess our sins, then He won't allow our prayers to go through the mainline. We can be sure we will be cut off at this point. Until we confess, we will have to try again later. Another reason our prayers aren't heard is when we just don't believe that God hears us in the first place. God demands that we have faith and trust in Him. So many times we may ask, and then we take it back and take charge. Once we make the request, we must be patient and know that He is God and will handle it in His time and in His way. For us, this is the hardest part. But this is where the faith comes in. "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." Jm.1:6-8 (KJV) Then the Bible tells us that if we ask with unspiritual motives, for selfish reasons, God won't hear these prayers either. We think of get rich quick schemes and pray that we may hit the lottery. We may pray for good health after we have abused our bodies. These prayers fall under the "wrong motive" catagory. We don't ask anything for anyone else and that makes our motives just plain selfish. These prayers are purely carnal and pleasing to the flesh, not to God. "Ye ask, and recieve not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." Jm.4:3 (KJV) God tells us that we must seek Him first and all these things will be added unto us. But, we so seldom do that. When we do seek God first in everything we do, we can be sure He will be in the midst of it. Sometimes His answer will be "No", but this isn't because He doesn't love us. Sometimes it precisely because He does love us that He says "No". For this we need to thank Him also. Then another reason we aren't being heard is because we just may have some unresolved conflicts with someone. Our stubborness keeps us from having our prayers heard. This is when we need to stop being bitter towards others and get the problem resolved as quickly as possible. We may have an uncompassionate heart. Sometimes we just don't care about anyone else. God sees when we deliberately turn someone in need away because we just can't be bothered. This kind of reaction doesn't reflect God's love in our own lives. If we don't show others that we love them, how can we expect God to love us? God is all about love, and it is afterall, His two biggest commandments. First we are to love Him with all our hearts, bodies, and souls. Secondly, we are to love our neighbor as we would ourselves. In being uncompassionate towards a needy person we aren't doing what God intended for us. These are just some reasons why God will not and can not hear our prayers. He wants us to treat others with respect and love or else our prayers will be hindered. We simply can't live our lives one way and expect to be able to step into God's realm and think that He will hear us or answer us for that matter. The good news is that everything that has been mentioned can be solved by paying special attention to it and being obedient and humble. When we truly ask God to search our hearts and forgive us our sins He is always good and faithful to then hear us and answer us. "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." Ps.86:5 (KJV) Now that you know some of the reasons for unanswered prayer, God is always ready and willing to forgive you of anything that might be keeping your prayers hindered. It makes a big difference when you know that God will hear your prayers and will be faithful in answering them because they will be prayers from your heart. These prayers could make a difference of life and death. There is power in prayers that are prayed correctly, why chance it? If you know of someone who needs salvation, prayer is the first thing that needs to be done because as God says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God in all His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." Go to the One Who is in control of this and give it to Him. Only those who take their sins seriously can remember Christ's cross with gratitude. Vivian Gordon is led by the Holy Spirit to reach out and give the Christian and non Christian alike something to think about in their own lives. These articles are meant to edify the reader and bring them deeper. They are based on spirituality, inspiration, and today's morals and how we need to get back to basics. |
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