Have you ever prayed and felt like God was just being silent? Or have you prayed earnestly for years and not seen any answer to your prayers? Have you wondered if God hears you? If He’s not answering, does that mean that He doesn’t care? Why should we pray?
Does God answer prayers? Yes, God does answer prayers. He is always listening to us when we pray. His answer in response to your prayers may not always be the answer you were expecting or wanting to hear, but He never leaves a prayer unanswered. We can trust God always answer our prayers.
In this blog, we’ll look at how God does answers prayers, and what our response should be when He answers our prayers.
Does God Answer Prayers?
Yes. We can always expect God to answer our prayers.
Because the Lord’s character is faithful, steadfast, never changing, consistent, and everlasting, we can trust that He will always give us an answer when we call upon Him in prayer.
However, we must be willing to receive whatever answer He gives us.
And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.
1 John 5:14 ESV
God answers our prayers in many different ways and forms. Rarely do we see Him answer our prayers in the same way twice.
How God answers may not always be the answer you were looking for, and it is not going to look the same for everyone else who may be praying for similar things.
But He is faithful in answering our prayers.
Here are three main answers we can expect God to give in response to our prayers.
Here’s a blog to learn more about prayer methods you can use.
God’s Answer: Yes
Hearing yes from God is the answer we often hope for in response to our prayers.
When God gives you His yes in response to prayer, you can be confident that the Lord has revealed His will for you.
There are many instances in the Bible where God answers people’s requests by granting them what they prayed for. These people understood however that nothing could happen without Him, as He is in control of all things.
God may say yes to our prayers for healing, provision, restoration, guidance, or salvation. When He does, we need to rejoice and thank Him for hearing our prayers and giving an answer.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.
Psalm 37:4-5 ESV
God’s Answer: No
Sometimes, God’s answer in response to our prayers is no. This is often one of the hardest answers we will receive.
“No” does not mean that God is holding out on you. He wants what is best for you, and we need to learn to accept His answer and trust that He has something better in store for us.
Always expect God to answer your prayers. No matter what the answer is, be content with what He tells you and continue to seek Him in other areas of your life.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
It is important to remember that God is ultimately in control of all things. Whatever happens, happens, and we must choose to still give Him the glory and not hold onto bitterness or anger when we receive an answer that we do not like. This is part of living a surrendered life.
As followers of Jesus, we should desire God’s will for our lives. If His answer is no to something that we prayed and asked for, then we can trust that thing was not in His will for us.
God’s Answer: Wait
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psalm 37:7 ESV
Other times God’s answer may be to wait. This answer is sometimes even harder than no because we don’t have a definite answer and we have to learn to be content to live with the unknown.
God desires for us to rely on Him for everything, and often that means waiting on Him patiently. In His perfect timing, He will reveal His will for you in whatever you are seeking Him in.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12 ESV
Sometimes, what may seem like silence from God can also be an answer to wait. Other times, His silence means that He has already told you the answer and you just don’t want to accept it.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
We need to wait on the Lord and trust in His perfect timing. We cannot lean on our own understanding but must trust that He is perfect in wisdom and knows exactly what He is doing.
Trust in God’s best for you and be satisfied with His answer to your prayer. You may wrestle with it, but ultimately you must trust that He knows what is best.
Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14 ESV
In some circumstances, like praying for healing over a loved one, God may choose to not heal them immediately. Or He may choose to heal them by bringing them home to be with Him where they will have no more pain or suffering.
In His own way, He will answer us. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
He is safe to trust with the desires He’s created in our hearts.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
This blog is for people who want to grow in maturity in their prayer life.
If I Am Not Receiving An Answer, How Do I Know God Hears My Prayers?
God listens to your voice when you pray. Whether it is just inside of your head or if you are praying out loud, He is always listening and ready to answer you when you call upon Him.
When you pray, you don’t have to say a lot of big words, and the duration of the prayer doesn’t matter as long as it is from your heart.
I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 NKJV
The Lord wants to hear your voice call out to Him. Even though He knows everything about you and knows the desires of your heart, He still wants you to actively seek Him out in prayer.
The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He also hears their cry and saves them.
Psalm 145:18-19 ESV
God is always listening. When we understand who God is and that He is always near to us, we can come forward to Him with our requests, cries, and pleas with confidence, knowing that He will give us an answer in His perfect timing.
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear;
Isaiah 59:1 ESV
How Should We Pray?
Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
John 14:13-14 ESV
When we pray, we are to pray in Jesus’ name. He has promised that whatever we ask in His name, He will do it. This is a promise He keeps.
We must also pray according to God’s will. As you seek God’s heart by abiding in Jesus—through spending time with Him in the Word and through prayer—you will discover more of His will for you. When you know God’s will, you can pray according to it.
If you’re interested in learning more about the will of God – click here.
We must also rejoice in the Lord and whatever answer He gives. It is important to always acknowledge the Lord in everything we receive and don’t receive.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7 ESV
God delights to answer your prayers. Never lose hope that the Lord will answer your prayers and be content with the answer that He will give you. He is faithful.