Nothing should matter more to a Christian believer than to know that he or she is being heard by the Father when they pray. Jesus gave specific instructions about prayer that we are to follow in order to be heard by God. To know that our prayers are being heard by God should fill our hearts with tremendous joy. There’s also spiritual strength that we gain whenever we know that God hears us when we pray.
Let’s look at the instructions that Jesus gives us on prayer in Matthew 6:5-8. “When you pray you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (NASB)
These prayer instructions from Jesus give us insight into God’s character and nature. One of the main expectations that God has of us when we come to Him in prayer is to come to Him in a spirit of humility. The reward that God has for us is released to us as we follow His instructions for approaching Him in prayer. In order to obtain the reward of praying, our desire to pray shouldn’t be motivated by being seen or heard but by following God’s instructions on how to enter His presence. God chooses whether His presence shows up when we pray not us. If we aren’t following His instructions to enter into prayer then how can we expect to be heard? Once God sees our humility then we can expect to be seen and heard by Him.
To enforce the truth that prayer is not primarily about being seen and heard, let’s look again at what Jesus said in Matthew 6:8. “…for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Prayer is not about helping God discover something that you or I need that He doesn’t already know about. Jesus is teaching us that prayer is God’s gift to us as the means by which we come to Him in order to discover what our need is because God already knows.
How much of our praying is based on telling God what we need instead of allowing God to show us what we need when we come to Him in prayer. Prayer is exercising faith in God to follow His instructions on getting our needs met. When we understand and practice the discipline of prayer God’s way it will bring heaven’s blessings into our lives.
We discover more about God when we seek Him according to His instructions and He shows us our need, than when we come only to bring to Him what we ‘think’ we need. What’s exciting about seeking Him this way is that God already knows exactly what we need, whether it is healing, deliverance, peace, love, finances, etc. What He wants us to discover about Him is how He chooses to meet the needs in our life. And when we discover how He’s going to meet our need then we will also discover how He’s shaping for us for His glory by meeting our need.
One of the greatest challenges we face as we walk with God is getting to a place where we can hear God speak to us about our REAL need. That’s why Jesus instructs us to enter our prayer closet or secret place so that we can hear God. We can’t hear God when we’re praying just to be seen or heard or when we use meaningless repetitions but thank God we can hear Him when we follow His instructions.
Prayer done God’s way is first and foremost an act of our obedience. We shouldn’t be motivated to pray just because we have a need but be willing to let God show us what our need is as we pray.