Does God Hear Us?
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The beginning of beloved Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” depicts many people praying simultaneously, and the juxtaposition of voices — to our ears — becomes a cacophony of noise. How, we wonder, does God separate each voice to hear individual prayers? Does He answer them all? We think, “Does God hear me?”
The question posed is a perplexing one when viewed through our human lens. How does God keep everyone’s praises and prayers straight? How does He hear them all? And, in a personal nature, how do I know He hears me?
The answer, of course, is to regard who God is and how we are to “see” Him according to what Scripture teaches us. We’ll investigate what the Bible says, and because of what His Word says, we are assured He does hear Christians’ prayers (which encompasses all our communication with God). We will understand God gives “ear” to our needs according to His will and timing.
Where Does the Bible Say God Hears Us?
The Bible is God-breathed, meaning He inspired the writers to impart His exact words into the canon of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). When we read the Bible, we are reading God’s very words to us. Therefore, any implication about God hearing the writers tells us He hears us. In fact, one of His covenant names is Elohim Shama – The God who hears (Exodus 2:24; Psalm 139:1; Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 4:14-16).
Yes, He hears us.
The following short list cements the truth God hears us:
King David cried to the Lord in many psalms, and he knew God heard him.
“In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple He heard my voice,
and my cry to Him reached his ears”(Psalm 18:6).
The psalmist, Asaph, wrote a definitive and uncontestable verse which tells us God hears us, “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me” (Psalm 77:1).
The Lord Jesus tells us He (God) hears us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
How Does God Hear Us?
We must remember God is wholly unlike any of His creation. He does not “listen” as do we, for we cannot fathom all He is. When we listen to someone, our minds are, more often than not, racing around in distraction, thinking about what’s for lunch, or how many minutes are left on my parking meter, and silly things such as what some other person was thinking when they decided on a particular hair style.
We’d love it if our thoughts could be completely focused on our subject and what they are saying, but we often “aren’t there,” and we miss important details.
For our mighty God, however, His listening skills are perfect. We never need worry He is otherwise distracted, because in His infinite being, He “hears” perfectly, beyond our scope of comprehension.
God is Spirit (John 4:24); He has no physical nature that would include eyes, ears, etc. Lest we get caught in theological details about God as Spirit, however, we need to understand how God “hears.” According to Professor and Theologian Stephen Wellum, “Biblical language in reference to God is analogical …Due to God’s sovereign condescension, He has graciously chosen to reveal Himself to us by speaking in ways that we can understand.” The Bible, therefore, uses anthropomorphic language to give us God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. God is incomprehensible, yet in His kindness has chosen to make Himself known in a way to which we can relate. God, in His omniscience, already knows everything, including what we will pray.
Because God has incommunicable attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, etc., we are only able to comprehend Him via His communicable (moral) attributes and we were, as professor Wellum says, “ created to reflect God in them,” albeit not equally (only He is perfect in His moral attributes).
God “hears” us because of who He is and how He created us in His image. Pastor and theologian R.C. Sproul adds, “We are a composite being made up of body and spirit. We are spiritual yet finite humans; God is infinite Spirit who is not bound by a body.”
As far as God’s holy essence is completely different from His creation, “God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). Yet God deigns to reveal His love of us by the Scripture that speaks of how He hears our cries (Psalm 61:1).
What if I Don’t Feel Like God Hears Me?
We cannot expect God to answer us with an audible voice from heaven or with a “sign.” What we have is the Scriptures, and from the Holy Spirit working in us through them, we receive understanding, insight, and wisdom. 2 Peter 1:3 gives us great hope, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.” It is through the Bible we learn about the Lord Jesus and grow in His grace and knowledge. As we study God’s Word, we learn how He wants us to live, and our prayers and petitions will be guided by His Spirit based on His Word. We have many questions about life and God’s will; Ligonier Ministries reveals this from Ecclesiastes 12:11-12, “Scripture answers the questions God wants us to ask, so let us be diligent in our study of it.”
No matter our emotional state or physical circumstances, God hears our cries to Him. It’s true God always answers our prayers. The answer is either, “yes,” “no,” or “wait.” We are, however, a people who desire and sometimes demand immediate answers, so waiting is very hard. But as we wait for His answers, we are to occupy ourselves with kingdom work and with careful study of the Bible. As we learn more of God’s Word, many answers to our prayers become apparent and we can act in a righteous manner because of how God revealed His will through his Word.
So then, when God graciously and mercifully answer our prayers, the solutions will come through His Word and/or godly counsel from a more mature believer who knows Scripture and strives to live a holy life.
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17). Here we need to remember deliverance may come here, or not until heaven.
We can pray with confidence because God does hear us and He will respond. We may think He is silent, but when we remember He speaks to us every day through His Word, we know He isn’t being silent; we’re just looking in the wrong places.
We aren’t to go to the Lord with demands, for when He hears us, He’s listening to see if we are coming before Him with hearts that are being sanctified as we attempt to live holy lives. The Bible speaks of God’s omniscience, “Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows Him his counsel? Whom did He consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14).
God knows what we will ask before it is even on our hearts (Psalm 139:4), and, more importantly, He knows what we need. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8). This passage tells us what to pray for, and it precedes the Disciples’ Prayer, which teaches us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13).
How Should I Pray?
We saw above the Lord Jesus taught His disciples (we too as Christians are His disciples) how to pray. The Apostle John later wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15, emphasis added). At first glance, it appears He will give us we want, but that’s not the case. The key phrase is, according to His will. How do we know His will? By fearing God and keeping His commandments, which King Solomon said is the “whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
We know Him by His creation (general revelation) and by His Word (special revelation). The only way to know His will is to become a Christian, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus by immersing yourself in His Word, and surrounding yourself with godly people (the church). Once we do all of that, we will come before the Lord with right motives and petitions, and with patience as He answers our prayers in His perfect time.
We’ll finish this short look at how God hears us by referencing a few passages. May they give you hope as you wait upon the Lord.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3).
Don’t go after signs, go after God’s will.
“Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
When we ask in Jesus’ name, we are, in effect, asking according to His will and not ours. His answers are always what’s best for us and what brings him glory.
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12a).
Rest in knowing that as a Christian, you wear Christ’s righteousness (Ephesians 6:14), and He hears your prayers.
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