Does God Always Hear Us When We Pray?

 

The answer to a recent prayer stopped me in my tracks.

It wasn’t the “size” of the response that threw me off guard. It was the amazing realization that God answered me at all.

You see, I only asked Him once.

Quietly. Without any fanfare.

I didn’t ask anyone to join me in prayer. I simply shared a secret desire with God, and then left it with Him.

A few days later, when I least expected it, He graciously granted me exactly what I’d asked for.

Even as I rejoiced in the answer, I marveled that God had heard me. Then I immediately chastised myself. Why was I so surprised? Didn’t I believe by now that God always listens to His children?

A case in point

A while back, my daughter and I were traveling with her children. She and I were having a lively conversation in the front seat when one of my grandsons asked a question from the back of the van. My daughter held up her “wait a minute” finger and we continued talking.

Unfazed, my grandson lifted his voice and asked the same question again. Then, a little louder, he asked a third time.

With one smooth move, my daughter steered the van onto a side road, pulled to a stop, and turned around to face her son.

“ I heard you,” she said quietly. “I heard you the very first time you asked. I’m your mom, and I’m going to answer you. But you have to be patient and wait for me to respond.”

What a wonderful lesson in prayer, I thought! Good parents want to hear from their children. So, why is it hard to believe God wants to hear from us?

Do you believe God is always listening? The answer to that question will help determine the condition of your prayer life and, consequently, the kind of fellowship you enjoy with your Heavenly Father.

If you’ve wondered if God is always listening when you pray, here are some reasons you can be sure He is.

 

HOW WE CAN KNOW GOD IS ALWAYS LISTENING

He cares about us

Sometimes I feel the urge to pray for something over and over again. The Bible even tells us we should feel free to “keep asking” (Luke 11:90).  But sometimes I sense it’s best to ask God only once and then patiently wait for Him to answer me.

Either way, it’s important to remember there is no formula for prayer. There’s only a Person, and He cares about the concerns of our hearts.

If you keep asking, is it because you’re afraid God isn’t listening?  Or are you asking because you know you have a Father who cares, who honors your passionate persistence in prayer, and who encourages you to “keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9, HCSB).

God is always listening. Like a loving parent, He’s not reluctant to answer. You can confidently “let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you” (1 Peter 5:7, TLB).

 

 

 

For I cried to him for help with praises ready on my tongue. He would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins. But he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it! Blessed be God, who didn’t turn away when I was praying and didn’t refuse me his kindness and love.

Psalm 66:17-20 (The Living Bible)

 

 

 

God invites us in

More than three decades after my college graduation, a group of my college sorority sisters re-connected via social media. I was invited to join up with two dozen or so of them at a large beach house for a three-day weekend.

I was petrified. Would I feel like I belonged? What if we had nothing in common after a  lifetime apart? Did I look too old?

Just as I was about to talk myself out of going, my daughters reminded me I’d been invited. My sorority sisters, they assured me, wanted me to be there.

I don’t know how many times I thought about turning around during my five-hour drive to the beach. When I finally arrived at the vacation home, I took a deep breath, walked into a room full of women, and immediately felt silly for thinking I wouldn’t belong there.  The bonds that had united us as young college women had held, and thirty-plus years melted away as the whole group of us laughed, reminisced, and caught up on each others’ lives.

 

 

When someone invites us in, it’s because they want us there. At every moment of every day, we’re invited to pour our hearts out to the Lord.  He wants to hear from us, and invites us to “always keep on praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, TLB).

God is not annoyed by our requests. On the contrary, He’s the one who said, “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know”
(Jeremiah 33:3, HCSB).

Over the years, I’ve found the promise in that verse to be true. I’m not a brilliant person, but God has made His Word known to me in ways that have surprised me. As author and speaker Beth Moore has said, “He makes me smarter than I am.”

God invites us into a more intimate relationship with Him through prayer. It’s impossible to have a close, loving relationship with someone if we never talk to them, and that’s the purpose of prayer. “The meaning of prayer,” Oswald Chambers said, ” is that we get hold of God, not of the answer.”  Since He has extended an open invitation to get hold of Him through prayer.  God is always listening.

 

God invites us to ask for what we need

God knows everything about us. He knows our past, he knows all about today, and He alone knows what’s ahead of us. He is sovereign, and sees everything (Psalm 11:4). He knows what we need far better than we do, and He orchestrates events according to His perfect plan.

Yet, in His model prayer, Jesus instructs us to ask God to “Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3, HCSB).  In other words, even though God already knows our every need, He wants us to ask Him for everything. Even the mundane things in our ordinary lives.  It’s almost as though God is yearning for us to get to know Him as the loving Parent who delights in meeting our needs.

What a beautiful, tender picture of our Heavenly Father. He bends His ear to hear us as we ask for what He already knows we need.

When my twin grandchildren were preschoolers, I helped my daughter host an elaborate, Ninja-themed birthday party. We spent days planning and making decorations, photo props, games, and snacks.

The day before the party, I pulled my grandchildren onto my lap and asked them what kind of party they were dreaming of. They’d been a part of all the planning, mind you, so I knew they were about to describe every decoration and snack we’d already planned for. But something in me wanted to hear them vocalize it.

Sure enough, my grandchildren proceeded to describe every detail of the party as though they had dreamed it all up in their heads. From the personalized headbands to the rice krispy sushi, they didn’t leave a thing out. And I’ll never forget the joy it brought to be able to say, “That’s exactly the party we’re having!”

 

 

I wonder if it could be true that God delights in hearing us ask for exactly what He’s already planned to give us? He invites us to ask Him for everything, which is a pretty reliable indication that God is always listening.

 

 

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say before I even say it.
Psalm 139:1-4 (TLB)

God invites us to leave our concerns with Him

God’s timing is not our timing. “A day or a thousand years from now is like tomorrow to the Lord” (2 Peter 3:8, TLB). His ways are not like our ways, but the Bible is clear that He’s always on time and His ways are always good.

In the Scriptures, Paul reminds us not to “…worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, (TLB).

Instead of fretting about our needs or concerns, we’re invited to give them to God and let them go. That’s how we experience the incredible peace God offers His children. We’re invited to tell God everything at any time of every day, which has to mean God is always listening.

 

 

The eyes of all mankind look up to you for help; you give them their food as they need it.
Psalm 145:15 (TLB)

 

God was listening

My answered prayer was a treasure I held close to my heart.

God won’t always give us what we ask for. No good parent would. We only know how to ask in light of today, but God answers in light of eternity.

Nonetheless, the Bible says when we pray according to His will, we can be sure He hears us.

God is always listening, and that beautiful truth should motivate us to start talking. After all,  “Prayer is simple, as simple as a child making known its wants to it parents” (Oswald Chambers).