God Hears Our Prayers

By Paula Williamson guest writer

I have been told by many people throughout my life that God does not hear their prayers.

Life is full of ups and downs, storms and sunshine, but if our truth comes from personal experience, it will inevitably be flawed. Why? Because no one is perfect, nor does anyone have a perfect life.

Consider the difference between two children, one raised in a dysfunctional family marked by fear, screaming, conflict, and substance abuse. These experiences shape that child’s worldview. It will likely be a fear-based view that casts the world as a bad place where no one can be trusted. Now consider the other child, raised in a healthy family where conflict is resolved peacefully and where truth, respect, and dependability are modeled. This child’s view would be that the world is a good place filled with good, trustworthy people and much to explore. These two children would have very different perspectives on the same world.

Experience should not be our truth. A reliable reference source that has never been disproven is a good place to learn about truth. 

It Is Written

1 JOHN 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will,

God Hears

We know that if we ask according to His will, He hears and answers. How can we know we asked according to His will? We need to know what His word says. According to Lifeway research, only 20 to 30 percent of Americans have read the entire Bible once. Among those who profess to be Christians, only 30-32 percent have read the whole Bible. If we don’t know God and His heart, how can we pray according to His will? We can’t. We will miss the mark, blame Him for not answering our prayers, and base our understanding of prayer on personal disappointment.

Prayer

Lord, when the disciples asked You to teach them to pray, and You did so in Matthew 6:9-13

‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.’ Help us to acknowledge You as Our Father, the Creator, and to revere You accordingly. Help us to be willing to lay down our will and our way, believing that You know better than we do. Help us to ask for what we need and to remember to forgive others as You have forgiven us. Help us not to give in to the temptation to live according to our fleshly desires, but to live for an audience of One.

Takeaway

God hears our prayers and knows what is best for us.