how do you know if you are reaching God through prayer? Christian believers only please.?

Question

I have alot of questions and i take them to the leaders of the church and the first thing they say is that i should take it to God and leave it at the alteror they say pray on it. But what if i have done all this and i believe God has directed me to speak to one of the leaders of the church. help if you can...

Answer 1

As a Christian, since you are asking for Christian responses, I will tell you that ALL prayers reach God. God does not even need for us to pray in order to know what we are talking to Him about or desiring Him to do. He wants us to pray out of respect and obedience to Him because it shows that we are humbling ourselves enough to come to Him with our petitions instead of taking it for granted that He will meet our desires/wishes/needs without us requesting it.

God answers all prayers, but He answers on HIS time and in HIS own way. God has all the time in the world and time does not pass by as slowly for God as it does for us. What seems like an eternity to us is but a speck in time for God. This is where faith comes in. God wants us to pray to Him and then to trust Him to answer our prayer in the way that He knows is best for all concerned. Even if an answer to prayer doesn't seem like the best thing for us, if it is the best thing for someone else, then it is what God wants because He sees the whole picture that we can't see and He knows how things will all turn out in the end. As for feeling directed to speak to one of the leaders in the church, if you feel directed to do so, then by all means, speak to the leader in your church. If that leader tells you to take it to God after you feel led by God to speak to that leader, then I would say that perhaps that leader is not being fully submissive to God himself (or herself). I would then go to another leader in the church and tell that person that you felt led by God to approach them with this. If each person you go to tells you to give it to God, then by all means do so. You will be obeying God because you did what you felt led to do and if doing so led you back to God, then you will be in a position to again wait upon the Lord for His direction that He wants you to go after you have already obeyed Him the first time. Even if the church leaders were not helpful, the simple obedience to God by approaching the church leaders is what God is looking for. He wants to see if we will trust and obey Him. When we do that, then He will reward our faith and obedience by continuing to lead us in the direction that is best.

Answer 2

Well i'm a christian too and i know what you mean. sometimes i feel like God won't hear my prayers if i don't tell them to someone else. i started this thing a few days ago where i will write down all my problems/prayers and put them in a box. once they are there they are not my problems anymore. i think that if you feel directed to speak to a leader then you should do just that, but i also think that you need to take your needs to God before you go to a leader. leaders are great at times, but God calls us to ask him for help first. I don't remember the exact verse, but one of my favorite verses is where God says "If you seek you shall find". it's pretty cool. well that's kinda all i have. right now anyway.

Answer 3

God answers all my prayers.

If you think God has directed you to speak to one of the leaders than do it.

In the bible it tells how community meetings are to be held, women do not talk the men do and if something is said that a man disagrees with he should stand up right on the spot and say so and say why and discuss the issue, if something is said that a woman disagrees with then she is to wait until she gets home and discuss it with her husband, father, brother or uncle and if he agrees with her he is to bring it up first thing at the next meeting. You should never be afraid to talk to the leaders of a church, they are humans just like you and I. If they won't discuss it or listen to you then there is something wrong with that church and then it might be time for you to find a new church. Pray for God to give you the strength to carry out the tasks he asks of you, then just do it.
I will be praying for you.
Love and Peace and God Bless you.

Answer 4

If you don't do what God is asking of you, you will feel it in your heart. It will feel like you are putting off some horrible task. Nagging.
If you do believe God has asked you to talk to one of the leaders, go right to the leader and start out your conversation just like that. I believe in my deepest of hearts that God has answered my prayers and that I am supposed to speak with you.
I just have faith that my prayers are being reached. I don't assume he will always give me the answer i am looking for or give me a timely answer.

Bless ya!

Answer 5

You should feel a change occur in your heart
your wisdom and understanding of things should become clearer. you should experience a sense of peace. Sometimes the experience can be profound bringing you to tears. You should have a sense of cleanliness, of holiness and freedom. Your ability to love should increase. Your ability to have compassion for others should increase. You should have a better sense of who you are and where you are going. You should feel close and intimate with God.
After this the experience of dryness can occur that is a sense that God is far away. Do not worry as the greatest Saints that have ever lived experienced this. It is at this time you pray out of love for God and not how it makes you feel.
I'm surprised at the response of your leaders for if they men or women of prayer they should have been able to tell you this. You may e-mail me if you feel the need to

Answer 6

Prayer is a wonderful thing. God expects us to talk and take our questions to Him. He answers prayers the way He see fits.
Sometimes you are to leave your questions or problems on the altar and other times people are used to help you.
It seems to me that the leaders of your church do not really want to help you. If they are constantly telling you to leave it on the altar then they are neglecting the reason that they are in the ministry in the first place.

Answer 7

I think it is the other way around....it is God who reaches us through prayer. By that I mean that praying aligns our thoughts with His and keeps us spiritually minded and mindful that we have a resource that the worldly do not have.

But a very wise pastor advised me to include this in my prayer whenever I was in the midst of turmoil:

"Father in Heaven, impress upon my heart that which you would have me to do in this situation."

Now the ball is in His court! You have made yourself available to His will, it is now up to Him to guide you as He has promised He will. Now, whatever you decide, have peace in knowing that you consulted God on the matter and you can be confident that it was the right decision. If it was the wrong decision, then God has made Himself a liar because you sought Him in the matter just as He asked you to do...He must live up to His promise to guide you, right? So, pray that prayer and depend completely on Him to follow through with His end of the bargain. There should be no guess work here. Pray, make the decision with confidence, know that it was the decision God would have you make, have peace of mind about it. It's that simple. That's called "relying on God."

I will remember you in my prayers.

Answer 8

I don't know what kind of church you go to but a Pastor should be willing to answer any question that you have if it is specifically addressed in the Bible. If you are asking questions about what you should do with your life then a Pastor can't tell you that because God doesn't tell us what his plan is for another person's life. That's when you have to take your questions to God in prayer.

Answer 9

You will, eventually, hear God's voice or see how He has answered your prayer if you are truly reaching Him through prayer by faith in Jesus. But if He has already spoken to you by telling/showing you to speak to one of the leaders of the church, you need to obey that leading. If they refuse to talk to you, that their fault and maybe you need to find a different church.

Answer 10

Yes because He answers our prayers because we pray in the name of Jesus and because we do those things which pleases God. I assume that your questions maybe too difficult for your Church Leaders and they are praying that God will lead you to the answers. You can always write me, I will be glad to answer you.