How Do We Know God Hears Our Prayers?
Share
Sometimes doubt creeps in. There, on our knees as we sob to our Lord in desperation or anguish, the thoughts begin to swirl. Does God hear me? Does he care?
Maybe deep down we think God only hears the prayers of the great ones or the chosen, those he’s handpicked to play a major role in his plans.
Or maybe we think we’ve angered God in a huge way and he no longer pays any attention to us, abandoning us to our pain.
Maybe we think God never cared a single bit about us, so small and insignificant and utterly unworthy of his care.
All of this is absolutely untrue. The Bible tells us God loves us and cares for us — every single one of us. The Bible tells us God does indeed hear our prayers. It also gives us countless examples of how God has done so.
How do we know that God hears our prayers?
Let’s take a look.
What Is a Prayer?
First, let’s take a look at what a prayer actually is. Prayer is talking to God, whether that is venting, praising, requesting, begging, or anything else.
In Genesis 25:21, we’re told that Isaac prayed to God because his wife was childless. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife, Rebekah, became pregnant. The Hebrew word used here is athar, meaning to supplicate, entreat, or plead.
Another word for prayer, dabar, is found in 1 Samuel 1:13, when we’re told Hannah silently prayed to the Lord in the Temple, asking for a son. The priest thought she was drunk, but Hannah insisted she was not. “Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief,” she told the priest (v. 16). Here, dabar means “speaking to God.”
Prayer can be public or private, spoken aloud or in our head, on our knees or offered while we’re driving in a car or doing the dishes. Some prayers don’t even require words, just a heartfelt cry of the soul — thank you, Lord. Help me. You are almighty.
How Do We Know God Hears Our Prayers?
First, God promises he hears our prayers. God does not lie. Indeed, God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18). He is only and always good, truth, light, and love, the almighty and perfect, now and forever.
Psalm 145:18 assures us, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (NIV).
Lamentations 3:55-56 tells us, “I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea.”
In John 14:14, Jesus says, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Scriptures tells us God hears us. Jesus tells us God hears us.
And we can trust that Scripture is true, whether we rely on documentation, archeological findings, eyewitness accounts, the words of Jesus Christ himself, or the evidence in countless lives transformed by God’s Holy Word.
Scripture itself confirms this, noting, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
What Are Some Examples of God Hearing Prayers?
The Bible contains a number of examples of God hearing someone’s prayers. Before David became king, he and his men returned to their community, Ziklag, and discovered it had been raided and burned by the Amalekites and all their people had been taken captive, including two of David’s wives, Abigail and Ahinoam (1 Samuel 30). Everyone was upset, and many considered stoning David. David turned to God, praying and asking what to do.
God replied, “Pursue them … You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue” (1 Samuel 30:8).
David obeyed, and God rewarded him as promised. He recovered “everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives” (v. 18).
In Genesis 32, when Jacob was preparing to meet his brother, Esau — the man he’d robbed of both his birthright and inheritance many years prior — Jacob prayed that God would save him from his brother’s wrath. God did, and Esau forgave Jacob. When their father died, the two brothers buried him together (Genesis 35:29).
Thousands of years later, when the apostles Paul and Silas were imprisoned for their faith, instead of accepting their fate, the Bible tells us they spent their time praying and singing hymns to the Lord. In response, God sent an earthquake that shook the doors of the prison so violently that they swung open, and the men were able to walk out unharmed — and even added the jailer to the family of the Lord in the process (Acts 16:16-40).
What if God Doesn’t Answer My Prayer the Way I Want?
God answers prayers in three main ways: Yes, no, and wait (maybe). God has a plan, and sometimes, we don’t see the full picture. We might find out we have a tumor and beg God for it to be benign, but it’s cancerous. Later, we realize God’s plan for that cancerous tumor ensured we grew stronger in our faith and were able to testify to countless others throughout our healing proves, ultimately bringing dozens more to Christ — none of which would have happened had he answered our prayer the way we wanted him to. Or perhaps we beg him to let us get a certain job, and we don’t. Then later, God opens the door for a new, even better job.
God hears us, even when he doesn’t answer our prayer as we desire. His plan is best.
Are There Times God Doesn’t Hear Our Prayers?
The Bile tells us there are times God does not hear our prayers: when we remain in sin and refuse to repent (Isaiah 1:15); when we fail to heed God’s instruction (Proverbs 28:9); or when we ask out of our own selfish desires instead of righteous, godly motives (James 4:3).
Scripture tells us we are to ask in faith, believing God will grant what we ask because we are asking in him.
As 1 John 5:14-15 assures us, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.”
What Else Does the Bible Say about God Hearing Our Prayers?
Here are some other verses that remind us God hears our prayers:
“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will” (John 9:31).
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22).
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29).
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).
God hears our prayers. Indeed, God knows every thought we have, even before we have uttered a word (Psalm 139:4).
And best of all, he loves us.
Amen, and thanks be to God.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Diana Simumpande
