Does God listen?

Why not start a prayer journal?  Write down the things you talk to God about.  Make a note when a prayer is answered.  After a few months look back and find out for yourself that God does answer prayer.  Your prayers! 

There’s no guarantee God will say yes when you pray.  If he says no, it won’t be because you didn’t have enough faith.   It will be because what you asked for wasn’t best for you and others.  Like a good and wise father, God only gives what’s best for you.

How to Pray

Some people don’t know how to pray.  I believe praying is the most important part of our Christian lives.  Praying is the time we get to talk to God, to have a relationship with him, spend time with Him, and share our thoughts and love for Him.  It’s also, a time to pray for others, a time to repent of our sins, and a time to pray for wisdom to knowing Gods truth and words through scripture.  The important thing to remember is when you pray, find a quiet and peaceful place. (But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed) (Luke 5:16) (Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?")  (Luke 9:18)  (,remember you don’t have to get on your knees to pray, just lift your heart up to the Lord).   Here’s the Lords Prayer.  "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  (Matthew 6:9-15) 

Our Father in Heaven,  (Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— )(John 1:12) (because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.) (Romans 8:14-16)

Hallowed be your name, (this means to to put God first, to glorify His name). (So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— )(Deuteronomy 11:13)

Your kingdom come, (this means to ask our heavenly Father to rule over our hearts, so that we will be ready when He comes).  (Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." )(John 18:36)  (I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.   And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.") (Revelation 21:2-4)

Your will be done  (this means that it is Gods will and not ours what will be done in our life. God has a plan for us, and whatever His plan is it’s Gods will not ours.   God knows our needs and he knows what’s best for us, maybe you don’t always like the answers, but trust in God he knows what’s best for you and it’s his plan).  (Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.") (Matthew 26:39)  (And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.) (Romans 8:27,28)

On earth as it is in heaven (this means that we are to live our lives with heaven in our minds and heart.) ("Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.) (Matthew 6:19-24)

Give us today our daily bread.  ("Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?  "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.) (Matthew 6:25-34)  (Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.) (Psalm 100:4) (Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.) (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Forgive us our debts, (If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.) (1John 1:9)  (Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.) (Psalm 51:1-4)

As we also have forgiven our debtors,  ("Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.) (Matthew 7:1-6)

And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one,   (Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.   Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.   In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.) (Ephesians 6:10-20)

For your is the kingdom
And the power and the glory forever.
Amen (this means: that’s all or so be it, or may it be so in accordance with the will of God.) (May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. " "'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it.") (Numbers 5:22)  ("To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.) (Revelation 3:14)