God always hears us. The key is, are we maintaining a connection with God?
You call your best friend’s cell phone and start pouring your heart out. You pause, wait for her response. After several seconds of silence, you realize the connection was dropped. Did she hear anything you said? Frustrating. You did all that talking and no one was listening. Sometimes praying to God can seem one-sided. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. God always hears us.
The key is, are we maintaining a connection with God? We must be receptive to the voice of the Lord. Imagine your friend calling you back (of course she would, the call was dropped). You answer. All you hear is static. She is probably trying to talk to you, but you can’t hear anything. The problem isn’t on her end–it’s on yours. You’re experiencing a bad connection.
We maintain our connection to God through Jesus Christ. If we are in Christ, then we are righteous.
Proverbs 15:29, The Living Bible
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.”
Yes, God can hear us. How can we hear Him better? Simple. Get rid of the static–move to a place of better reception by:
1. Remembering your identity in Christ.
- You are a child of God: Kings hear the requests of their children and meets their needs.
- You are a spouse of Christ: A husband listens to his wife’s desires and fulfills them
- You are the temple of the Holy Spirit: Under the Old Covenant, people went to the temple with a sacrifice and asked the priest to submit their prayers to God. We have a better covenant through Christ, who is our High Priest (Hebrews 9:6-12). Jesus lives forever at the right hand of the Father always making intercession for us (Romans 8:33-35). Plus, His Holy Spirit lives inside us. We don’t have to go to a temple. We are the temple!
2. Abiding in Christ
- If you leave your spouse, you aren’t entitled to any of their assets.You don’t have a right to the peace of God, provision, health, protection or any of God’s promises if you willingly reject Christ.
- Did you know that you can reject Christ by willfully staying in sin?In other words, you know the Word. You know it’s wrong. But, you don’t care. You have no plans to stop. This type of disobedience is the same as rejecting Christ. (Romans 6:1-3 & Hebrews 10:26)
- When you aren’t abiding in Christ and you pray, you still get an answer. God will send many messages asking you to repent (turn around and go in the opposite direction). It will seem as if everything and everyone reminds you of your sin—the billboard, the annoying “spiritual” friend, your neighbor, the sermon, the co-worker, you name it. God isn’t trying to hurt you. He is trying to save you. He is going to judge sin—so get out of it. God is ready to forgive you and help you. (1 John 1:9)
3. Submitting your prayer from a position of faith. All of God’s promises are yes through Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:19-20). Remember, Jesus came with this mission…
Luke 4:18-19, Living Bible
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all who come to him.”
Jesus will complete his mission through your prayers. So don’t hesitate to call on the name of the Lord. God can hear you loud and clear.
