Does God Really Hear My Prayers?
We might sometimes wonder if God really listens to our prayers. Some even stop praying because they think their prayers are not heard. The Catechism makes a few important points on this topic. First, we should consider the image of God that we bring to prayer: Do we view God as a loving Father who knows what is best for us? Or do we approach him like a spiritual Santa Claus to help us fulfill our wishes and get what we want? The Catechism poses this important question:
“When we praise God or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly concerned whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. What is the image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used? Or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?”
CCC 2735
God Always Answers Our Prayers
Second, God always answers our prayers—but in his time and in his way. Do we trust that our heavenly Father knows what is best for us “even before we ask him” (see Matthew 6:8)? Sometimes the desires we present to God are not the best for us. Even if they are good intentions, they may not be aligned with God’s larger plan, which is always for our good and the good of the world around us. This is why God can use our time in prayer to change our hearts, to shape our desires, and to enable us to be more accepting of his good and holy will which we may not understand initially. We should entrust all our petitions to the Lord’s will. And when we do, we can even ask God to change our hearts if his will is different from our own. As the Catechism tells us, quoting St. Augustine, “God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give” (CCC 2737).
This is an excerpt from Dr. Edward Sri’s latest book, Pocket Guide to Prayer. Buy your copy here.
Pocket Guide to Prayer
Photo by Fa Barboza on Unsplash
