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God does not hear and answer all our prayers. But God answers prayers. And not all can pray to God, only His children the believers have the access to go straight to the Father in prayer. You must be a member of the family of God so you can call the Heavenly Father, “Our Father which art in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:9)
Yes, relationship is the basis of prayer. Therefore, prayer is a child’s petition to an all-loving and all-knowing Father-God.
Right prayer begins with worship. “Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)
When we pray, it is a very sacred act of worship. Just you and the Almighty God, the creator of Heaven and earth, and under the earth, things seen and unseen. And He created us because He loves us. And we go on and on until we find ourselves worshipping Him, praising and exalting His Holy Name and then thanking Him for all the blessings, His loving kindness, endless mercy that is new every morning and His amazing grace that we don’t deserve. Then we experience the joy and peace deep down in our innermost being. It’s indescribable. We experience the power of God when we commune with Him with sanctity.
God answers our prayer in four basic ways. First of all, God answers yes to our prayer when we are asking something we really need and in accordance to His will and for His glory and honor. “Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7)
Secondly, sometimes we are asking God something different from His will for us. We are asking something we don’t need and dangerous too but we think it is good for us. Then the Holy Spirit is convicting us, not wanting us to be harmed. “For we know not what we should pray for us we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)
Thirdly, we are praying to God something very, very important and we really, really need it now. It seems like we don’t have time anymore to wait. But God is delaying His response to our prayer. God is teaching us to obey Him and while waiting He’s strengthening us and molding us to trust in Him and depend on Him. God is always on time. And He makes all things beautiful in His time. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Lastly, the answer of our prayer is denied. God will say no when we ask Him something that will only satisfy the lusts of our flesh. It’s all for the world and nothing for the glory of the Lord. When our focus on the Lord will be out of sight and we get lost in this sinful world, we will then suffer the painful consequences of our wrong motives.
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasure. (James 4:3)
Jesus said, “And whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do that the Father maybe glorified in the Son. If you should ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14) So when we pray, we always end our prayer in Jesus Name.
In closing, God loves us all and His grace is offered to all. For the unbelievers, just pray the sinner’s prayer.
Admit that you are a sinner, believe that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the penalty of your sins on the cross and accept Him as your Lord, Savior and Redeemer and you will become a child of God. Then you will go straight to the Heavenly Father because you are His beloved child.
EDITORS NOTE: ” This column hopes to address questions pertaining to faith, from those who have doubts about God. Pastor Pascual and Mrs. Lydia Tayco will use and cite no other reference but the Holy Scripture, which embodies the Word of God. You can reach them by email at lydia_rhoton@yahoo.com.”