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Does God Answer Prayer?

This might seem like a silly question but it’s something all of us wonder about at some point in our faith journey. We’ve been speaking about spiritual habits, specifically the habits of prayer and reading the word. 

1 John 5:14-15 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

This scripture makes a powerful promise: that God hears us, and that He answers us. This scripture also promises that whatever we ask or say in faith that pleases Him – He will give that to you. How do I know what pleases God? How do you know what anyone likes? You spend time with them to get to know them. Get to know God and you’ll soon discover what pleases Him. 

Does God answer prayer? Yes, absolutely, but it might not always be in the way you anticipated. Never confuse God’s silence with God’s absence. If He’s not saying anything right now, that doesn’t mean He won’t answer. When we get to know God in relationship, we discover more and more what pleases Him, and the more I grow in my relationship with Him the more my own will and thoughts and prayers and requests start conforming to His will.  Then we can be sure that He not only can answer prayers but that He will answer. 

God answers in many different ways. But most likely you’ll discover God’s answers to your prayers through His word, so spend time in His word. God might answer your prayer through the Body of Christ, which is the church, so make sure you’re connected to other followers of Jesus. And God might even answer through His Holy Spirit that impresses something upon you because He lives in you. We can know this for sure – God does speak. He loves speaking to His children. 

But I want to end off with a last encouragement, something that God has been speaking to me about. I think many of us doubt whether God does answer prayers because we aren’t praying prayers that need answering.  We often pray safe prayers, and by that I mean prayers that - whether they are answered or not - I wouldn’t even know the difference. Prayers that don’t require answering. 

When last did you pray a prayer that needed an answer? A prayer that was desperate for and dependent upon an answer from your Father in heaven? We need to pray more prayers like that, prayers that need answering. You see, the more we pray bold prayers that need answering – the more faith is generated in us each time when God does answer. Start praying bold prayers over this next season and watch what happens.