Does God Hear Your Prayers?

Today, I want to ask you if you think God hears your prayers. Does God hear your prayers? Well, if you are a God-hating atheist, then obviously God doesn’t hear your prayers because you don’t even pray. If you did pray at all, then you couldn’t call yourself an atheist. So God does not hear atheists because they don’t pray.

Are you praying to the wrong god? If you are praying to Allah, or the god of the Mormons, or the god of the Jehovah Witnesses, or to Buddha or any of the Hindu gods, you are praying to the wrong god. If you are praying to the wrong god, then the God of the Bible does not hear you because you are not praying to Him. You are not praying to the great Creator God, the God of Heaven and earth. How could you expect God to answer your prayers if you are not even praying to Him in the first place?

Maybe you have an idea of who the right God is, but maybe you are praying through the wrong mediator. Are you praying to or through mere mortals; to people who have died in the past and their spirit may be in Heaven, but their bones are still in this earth? Maybe you are praying to or through what are called saints. Are you trying to reach the One True God by talking to a dead person? Are you asking for God’s help by praying to Mother Mary? If you are, then sadly, God does not hear your prayers because you are praying through the wrong person. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. Not the best mediator or highest ranking mediator, but the one and only mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).

Or maybe your ancestors prayed and followed the One True God, the God of the Bible, but your ancestors and you personally have rejected the Messiah. If you reject the Savior, the Messiah, then shouldn’t you still sacrifice animals to God? I’m not saying that sacrificing animals would do you any good, but it seems to me if you really don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Redeemer, then you should still follow the covenants and laws of the Old Testament. But even if you were still observing what God commanded in the Old Testament, He still wouldn’t hear your prayers because you have rejected His one and only Son. Again, Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. There is no other. The blood of goats and bulls cannot make you clean. They cannot put you in right standing with God.

Maybe you are here today and you actually believe in the God of the Bible. Not only that, but you have even heard of Jesus Christ. Maybe you have even asked Jesus into your heart at one point in your life. But you have never really surrendered your life to Him. You hope that He will save you from going to Hell, but you really don’t want Him to lead your life. You want to claim Him as Savior, but you have never surrendered your life to Him as Lord. You may be closer than the rest, but you are still missing the mark. You too will end up in Hell after you physically die because you have not served the Master. You have not submitted your life to the only One who could save you. Sadly, God does not hear your prayers either.

By this time you are probably thinking that I’m being too judgmental. What gives me the right to tell you whether God hears your prayers or not? I’m just speaking truth to you today; the same truth that I’ve read in the Bible and the same truth that you can read for yourself. By the way, when’s the last time that you’ve read the Bible? Do you read it? Do you read the Bible every day? Do you look forward to reading it?

So what does the Bible say about God hearing our prayers? I’m glad you asked. Proverbs 15:26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words. Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he hears the prayers of the righteous. Proverbs 22:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind? Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

Isaiah 1:15 And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Job 35:12-13 There they cry, but none gives answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

Yes, there are even more verses on this subject. Jeremiah 11:11-14 Therefore thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry to me, I will not hearken to them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry to the gods to whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up alters to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal. Therefore do not pray for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me for their trouble.

Jeremiah 14:10-12 Thus says the LORD to this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the LORD to me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry, and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

Zechariah 7:11-13 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts has sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, says the LORD of hosts.

Want to hear a couple of more? Ok. Proverbs 28:9 He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination. John 9:31 Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and does his will, him he hears.

If you are an unrepentant sinner today, God does not hear your prayers. Even if you have waded through all of the false religions and you are trying to reach the One true God, if you have never repented from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ, God almighty does not hear you when you pray. If you are merely counting on a prayer you’ve said in the past, but there’s been no change in your life since that time, then you are worshiping a false god. You are worshiping a god that you have invented in your own mind (thereby breaking the first and second commandments).

The great God of Heaven and earth does not hear your prayers. You are praying in vain. You might as well be praying to a piece of wood, stone or gold. Sometimes we read the Old Testament and think how silly people were to worship a god that was handmade. Well, sadly today, many people are worshiping a god that they too have made; they have just made it in their mind instead of making it with their hands. Either way, a false god can never save you. Jesus is the only Way of salvation.

Jesus died on the cross for guilty sinners and He rose from the grave on the third day. He defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. God offers eternal life;, unsurpassed joy and peace, to those who repent and put their faith in Jesus. God saves those whom He draws to Himself (John 6:44). God saves those who recognize that they need to be saved and who recognize their own sinfulness and cry out to God to save them, through the shed blood of Jesus. If you have never done this, then God does not hear your prayers. You might as well be praying to a wall or to a stump. If you continue on this same unrepentant path, then you will hear those fearful words on Judgment Day “I never knew you, depart from me you that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:23)

Maybe you are here today and you have truly been saved. You repented and put your trust in Jesus. Maybe you have even been walking with God for several years. But your prayer life has grown cold. You don’t read the Bible like you used to. Maybe you have even fallen into open sin and rebellion against God. If you are truly saved, you cannot lose your salvation, but why do you want to continue in rebellion against God? Why do you want to be separated from God? Isaiah 59:2 says But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

God cannot and will not tolerate open rebellion. None of us will be perfect in this lifetime. None of us can perfectly love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength every second of every day. But God calls us to be holy because He is Holy. Through the Holy Spirit, God convicts you of your sins. Even us Christians should constantly be repenting from our sins. I don’t drink alcohol or chase women like I did years ago. God changed my heart. He has given me new desires – His desires. I am far from perfect. I still fight sin. I still fight the pleasures of the flesh, this world and Satan. God continues to show me areas in my life that I need to relinquish fully to Him. This will continue for as long as I have breath in me. But I am not the man I used to be. God has taken away my heart of stone and He has given me a heart of flesh.

In Psalm 32, David tells us how horrible his spiritual life was while he was committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband Uriah killed in battle. God was far from David during that time. God did not hear David’s prayers. David explains how miserable he was in Psalm 32:3-4 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

But David did repent from his sins. He cried out to God to have mercy upon him and God was merciful on David. Psalm 32:5 states I acknowledge my sin unto you, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. Psalm 32:1-2 says Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Your sins can be forgiven. You can be cleansed and made whole. God will no longer hold your sins against you; if you repent and believe the Gospel. Oh, do this today and be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Be saved today. Admit to God that you are a sinner. Admit to God that you have tried your own way and have failed. Admit that you cannot save yourself. Admit that Jesus is the only Savior. Cry out to God to save you. Turn away from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Submit your life to His rule. Bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is LORD. When you repent and put your faith in Jesus, then He is more than just your Savior, He is your LORD. Surrender your life to Him today and be saved.

In Ephesians 2:1-9 the apostle Paul says And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;) And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

God hears the prayers of repentant sinners. I repeat God hears the prayers of repentant sinners. Repent today and see what the new birth is like. Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior today and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Receive joy unspeakable and full of glory. Receive the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Pass from spiritual death to life. God will listen to your prayers if you repent and surrender your life to Christ. Do this today and the wrath of God will be removed from you. (If you don’t repent and believe the Gospel, then you are just storing up more wrath against you from God Almighty (Romans 2:5). Be saved today.

(This message was proclaimed in the open air at Missouri State University on March 26, 2014 and in downtown Springfield, MO on March 28, 2014).