does god listen to our prayers?

Answer 1

Yes, He (or She) also listens to our thoughts, hopes, and fears.

Prayer is the elevation of the mind and heart to God:
+ In praise of his glory
+ In petition for some desired good
+ In thanksgiving for a good received
+ In intercession for others before God

Through prayer the Christian experiences a communion with God through Christ in the Church.

"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." (St. Thérèse of Lisieux)

"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." (St. John Damascene)

But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? (Psalm 130:1)

He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God."

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I think so, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure there is a God, but then why do I find myself praying more and more these days? It really does seem to help in situations where I feel I have little or no control, i.e. airplane take-offs & landings, handling issues with teenage children, health issues, etc. I do find that God often provides an answer or guides me do be calmer or more accepting.

The paradoxical aspect of prayer is this: If God forsees the future and is all-powerful, how is it possible for humans to "intervene" and influence God to change the course of events, to do what He otherwise would not? It is said that He allows humans to have free will, because the resulting mixture of good and evil creates a "higher" good than would exist if we were all happy automatons or animals with no free will, although I'm not sure I really am convinced by this argument.

Yet, perhaps answering our prayers is one primary way that God provides us with evidence that He exists and cares about us. He wants to persuade us to believe and trust in Him, but not force us to do this, because He believes it important that we have free will. If God didn't answer prayers, we would have a much harder time believing in Him, at least as a personal God. He would be more like an impersonal force that could not be influenced. What kind of world would that be?

I'm really still on the fence here. The logical arguments for prayer don't convince me, yet I find experience urging me to keep praying anyway.

Answer 3

The funny thing about prayer:
Any prayers that get a "yes" answer could also be explained by science, coincidence, or willful deception.

Try praying for something that could *** not*** happen without a clearly defined supreme being type stepping in.

For instance, gather your "true" believing friends (they must have the faith of a mustard seed) and pray that God regenerate just one soldier's blown off leg. Or give a fireman the ability to fly for just a minute to rescue a child from a burning apartment building. Or to instantly clean up our air and reverse global warming.

Somehow, no matter how earnest and worthy the prayer, the answer is always no to those types of requests.

I don't think anyone is listening. What I can't understand is why any rational human would believe that there is.

Choose reality.

Answer 4

God listens, hears and acts upon our prayers...He knows exactly what we will pray before we start to pray. All prayers are answered but it is not always how we want or expect, therefore we miss it by not recognizing it as an answered prayer. Some say why should we pray if God knows our prayers beforehand...God seeks relationship with us. All relationships need communication. We communicate through prayer and partner with Him resulting in a deeper love and understanding of who He is with a strengthened relationship. Continue praying for a rock solid relationship with Him.

Answer 5

God listens to people from all nations. (Psalm 145:18, 19) His Word, the Bible, encourages us to speak to him about any matter that concerns us. (Philippians 4:6, 7) Yet, some prayers displease God. For example, repeating memorized prayers does not please him.—Read Matthew 6:7.
Also, Jehovah dislikes the prayers of people who willfully disregard his law. (Proverbs 28:9) Clearly, we must meet certain requirements to be heard by God.—Read Isaiah 1:15.
What must we do to be heard by God?
We cannot approach God in prayer without faith. (James 1:5, 6) We must be convinced that he exists and cares about us. We can strengthen our faith by studying the Bible because true faith is based on the evidence and assurances found in God’s Word.—Read Hebrews 11:1, 6.
We should pray sincerely and humbly.We should try to understand his requirements by reading the Bible. Then we can pray in harmony with God’s will.—Read 1 John 5:14.

Answer 6

We are told that GOD hears all prayers. If we are Christian then HE will answer every prayer. HIS answer is not necessarily "YES" but HE will answer. If that prayer is HIS WILL then it will be approved. There are times that we get an answer of "NO" that ends up being the best thing for us later. Our GOD is watching each and every one of us. Have a great day!
Eds

Answer 7

When man could not understand about his creation and the creation of the universe fully, decided to rationalise it by "introducing" the concept of God.
So, prayer is a reinforcement of man's faith in this concept. Answer to prayers could be a result of many combinations...(1) Serendipity, (2) Man's own efforts, (3) Luck, (4) Other's help etc...
It is easy to call it a divine intervention or God's answer to the prayer...

Answer 8

I dont know about any of you personally but when I was an atheist NOTHING got answered but coincidentally more 'coincidences' did happen, alot of UN self-serving stuff I merely whispered to myself got answered when I gave this God a chance. Maybe alot of you need to do the same and find out for yourself...and you'll understand the following verse I read somewhere in the Old Testament when He said, "I Am the Lord Thy God, I rescued you from Egypt*, just ask Me, and I will give you anything you need!"

I was told that the word 'Egypt' may symbolize anywhere "bad" each of us have personally been, experienced in our own life. Also, dont forget, NOTICE GOD DOESNT SAY, ".....I'll give you anything you WANT". There's a big difference. Peace!

Answer 9

Hundreds of millions prayed for your god to stop Hitler before he caused 30+ million to die during WWII and he did NOTHING. A simple little blood clot would have done the trick, say in 1934, but NOOOOOO. If this god of yours could turn a good woman into a pillar of salt for looking over her shoulder, why couldn't he answer the prayers to end evil. Either your god is heartless, powerless, both, or does not exist at all.

Answer 10

Not only does he listen to our Prayers, he answers them as well.