Does God hear my prayers?

from the old testament

• God is omniscient. He is aware of every prayer that is prayed and every thought every person has. Psalm 139:1–4 says, "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether."
• Nothing escapes God’s notice (Psalm 139:1–4), and He rules over everything (Isaiah 46:9–11).
• Several Old Testament passages affirm that God hears our prayers. Second Chronicles 7:14 shows that God will hear the prayers of the people if they humble themselves and seek Him. Psalm 34:17 tells us that "when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles."
• Jeremiah 29:12 calls us to pray to God, for He hears us: "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you."
• Although God hears our prayers, there are some conditions that keep Him from listening. Isaiah 59:1–2 tells us that our “iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." Proverbs 28:9 reveals that ignoring God's commands makes one’s prayers unacceptable to God, and Micah 3:4 tells us that God “will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil." Sin separates us from God and keeps Him from listening to our prayers. A right relationship with God is essential for our prayers to be heard.

from the new testament

• God holds everything together (Colossians 1:17). The question is not whether God can hear us, but whether He listens to our prayers with an intent to answer.
• God will always listen to a prayer of repentance. Those who come to God in humility, recognizing their own sinfulness and the futility of trying to earn God's favor, and confess their faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord will never be turned away. God is eager to forgive and justify (John 3:16–18). "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
• Hebrews 4:14–16 and 10:19–23 reveal that God hears the prayers of His people, those who are saved.
• In John 14:13, Jesus told His disciples, "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." First John 5:14–15 clarifies this: "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."
• God hears us when we are a child of His through Jesus Christ (John 1:12). When we make our requests upon that basis and in accordance with His will, He answers us. God's will is for people to repent and come to Him (Luke 18:13–14; Acts 2:38; 2 Peter 3:9). God also desires for us to be transformed and to become holy (Romans 12:1–2; 1 Peter 1:15–16). God’s will is for us to forgive one another, live peaceably with one another, bear one another's burdens, and love one another with godly love (Ephesians 4:32; Romans 12:18; Galatians 6:2; John 13:34–35; 1 John 4:7–8). More examples could be added, but the idea is that the things that the Bible tells us are clearly in God's will are prayers that He will listen to.
• The Bible also tells us some reasons God might not listen to our prayers. James 4:2–3 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." Clearly, if we neglect to pray, there is nothing for God to listen to. He knows our hearts, and He knows our needs, and He also still desires that we come to Him in prayer (Philippians 4:6–7; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18). When our prayers are intended toward selfish ends, God often denies our requests. It is not that He doesn't hear, but He doesn't listen.

implications for today

Just because it seems that God does not hear our prayers does not mean that He does not. A delay in response also does not necessarily mean God is not listening because of our sinfulness. Many times, God answers our prayers in unexpected ways. For example, you might pray for a specific job, but the job goes to someone else because God has something different in mind for you. Or perhaps you pray for release from a particular hardship, but it is God's will that you go through that hardship because, from it, He brings about healing for past hurts.

If we feel like God is not listening to our prayers, it is wise to examine our own hearts. When we find sin in our lives, we should repent and confess; God is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9). But we should also continue praying. The Psalms are a good demonstration of just how honest and vulnerable we can be with God in prayer. We can admit to God that we are afraid He isn't listening to us and ask Him to show us the reason or to give us peace in the silence. In Luke 18, Jesus "told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). Persisting in prayer, especially with a malleable heart that is truly seeking God's will and is willing to listen to Him, is appropriate.

Remember that our faith is in God, not in the way we pray or in the specific outcome of our prayers. We can pray for specific things and outcomes, but we ultimately pray for His will to be done. We can imitate Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36–46). The Father heard Jesus's prayer, but He did not allow the cup to pass. Jesus was still crucified on our behalf, and willingly, because of His great love for us. Jesus prayed for God's will to be done, and it was. Salvation was made available to all of humanity (John 3:16–18). Because of that, we, too, can approach God in prayer. We can trust that He hears us. We can also trust that He will respond as He knows best. So, we submit to Him, approach Him boldly and eagerly with confidence, and trust Him with the outcome. What we most want is for His will to be done and for ourselves to be transformed to be more like Him (Romans 8:28–29).