Does God Hear Your Prayers?

-John Moraga

 

       

       “Thoughts and prayers,” “You are in our thoughts and prayers,” “Keep me in your prayers,” are common platitudes, which are seldom sincere. Too often people claim they are praying, but rarely do they actually pray, and even less frequently does God hear their prayers. Unfortunately, even when some people think they are sincere in their prayers, those prayers can go unheard. This article will inevitably offend many non-Christians, as well as many self-proclaimed Christians. Nonetheless, I believe it is important for our time.

       I shall assert a few stipulations: First, God exists, there is one God, the one true God is the sovereign king of the universe revealed in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, who became incarnate in the Christian Scriptures, in order to provide us a path to everlasting life. Second, unless a non-believer (Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, etc.) is repenting of his sins and praying for forgiveness from Christ, God does not hear a person’s prayers. This deduction is derived from the fact that God has made an exclusive covenant with the people of Israel, which was fulfilled by the atonement of Christ and is now extended to Christians. Finally, even self-proclaimed Christians can be ignorant of the purpose of prayer.

       The precedent for God’s deafness to some prayers is derived from several places in the Hebrew Scriptures, but most clearly expressed by the prophet Isaiah, 

 

"And when you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you; Though you pray at length, I will not listen. Your hands are stained with crime" –Isaiah 1:15 (Jewish Publication Society, New). 

 

Of course, this verse, which is taken from the opening chapter of the book of Isaiah, is addressing Israel’s prolonged and egregious rebellion against God. However, the principle of God’s refusal to listen to certain prayers is established: when people are in rebellion against God, he does not consider their prayers, even if they are His “chosen people.” People are in rebellion when they (a) do not know the one true God of Scriptures and (b) do not seek His will above their own. Addressing point (a), to “know” the one true God is to have a personal relationship with Him, by placing one’s faith in Christ as the only atonement for one’s sins. If a person is indulging in a life of sin, he definitely does not know the one true God. Whether he is a non-believer or a self-proclaimed believer rationalizing his lifestyle of sin, he is in rebellion against God. Addressing point (b), our personal will should be subservient to His will. Understandably, people may seek prayer for personal distress. Prayers may be sought for times of physical ailments, psychological depression, or financial difficulties, but the focus of our prayers should always be the will of God Himself, irrespective of our personal desires. However, in no way is it my intent to minimize suffering, as I and many others I know can greatly suffer in various ways. My point is that our prayers should be primarily based on doing the will of God. This world is fleeting. Our lives are only temporary. Whatever suffering or discomfort we experience here in this world, our desire for relief from them should be secondary or tertiary to glorifying the All Mighty and doing His will. It is good, it is healthy to lift up our pain and struggles to the Lord and seek His peace during times of despair, so long as the end goal is to edify His majesty, irrespective of the outcomes of our petitions. Too often, people pray to God, as though He is some type of magical genie, who grants wishes, if we pray fervently enough. They may pray with intense passion for a certain outcome, but their expectations of their prayers being "answered" is misplaced. 

 

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." (I John 5:14, NASB)

 

       It is necessary for us to take account of our lives, and determine whether we are truly living righteously in pursuit of the will of God. Are we living lives in which we “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17, NASB), and of which the emphasis of those prayers are appropriately focused? Let us consider what Christ Himself taught us about how to pray: 

"...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’" (Matthew 6:8-13, NASB)

 

This is the famous Lord's Prayer, and it serves as the supreme structure of appropriate prayer. Immediately before Christ provides an example of how to properly pray, He tells us that the Father already knows our needs. That does not necessarily mean that it is wrong or inappropriate to lay our troubles down at the feet of the Father, but rather, Christ was conveying how we are to prioritize the intent of our prayers. We are to glorify the Lord and seek to do His will, which by extension is also to do right by others and avoid the allure of sin. However, in no portion of the Lord's Prayer is there a petition or request for personal gain or satisfaction. The Lord's prayer is a purely selfless prayer. That sense of selflessness is too often ignored when we make requests of God, which may not actually be His will. Perhaps, His will is that a person not be financially solvent for a period of time. What if it is not His will that a person is healed from cancer? Obviously, these are extreme hypotheticals, but they are important examples to consider. If a person does not have his prayers "answered," how does that impact his faith? How does that affect his perception of God's sovereignty? God wants to hear from us, His children. He longs to have a reciprocal relationship with us, but He knows our needs before we even ask Him. So, He wants to know that we are at a place in our relationship with Him that we can break the shell of our flesh and truly seek to be part of His bigger plan, which is to do His will. May we strive to carry out the Great Commission. May we take heed to the greatest commandment to Love the Lord our God, as well as love our neighbor as ourselves.

 

       Does God hear your prayers? Well, are you genuinely born-again by the atoning blood of Christ? Are your prayers primarily rooted in doing the will of God over your own personal requests? Granted, these are difficult questions to consider, even by sincere Christians, who believe they know how to pray and believe that God does hear their prayers. 

 

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33, NASB)