Recently we received a comment that surprised us. Apparently it isn’t self-evident that our audience is primarily Christian. As neither one of us would have joined a “Praying Wives” anything before giving our lives whole-heartedly to Jesus, we figure that most people who read this blog fall into two categories: (1) Christians or (2) those who are seeking to understand Christianity in order to make a decision about what they believe. We presumed that it was apparent to anyone who read our posts that we love God, follow Jesus Christ, and are passionate about seeing marriages restored, renewed, and reflective of God’s plan and purpose for His people.
This same comment included the thought that the belief that God hears our prayers was not theologically sound. (Rebecca stated this in her post, “Failure is Temporary?”) Included were three scriptures that were used to support that opinion. Because we are eager for a dialogue with you, our precious readers, we felt it was important that we address the question of whether or not God hears our prayers as believers.
The first two scriptures in the case against the statement, “God hears your prayers,” are from the Old Testament. We love the Old Testament! There is much wisdom to be gleaned from its pages, without doubt. However, Jesus has come and He, through His blood, has given us a new covenant! The rules have changed.
Isaiah 59:2, which states, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear,” refers to Israel’s sin of idolatry. As born-again believers, the blood of Jesus covers our sins.
Proverbs 28:9 says, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.” Jesus has fulfilled the law! We are no longer required to fulfill each and every law that the Israelites were subject to in the Old Testament. For that, we are eternally grateful, because we could not do it. In fact, none of us could. That’s why we need Jesus!
In John 9:31, which is part of the larger story of a man being healed of blindness by Jesus, the now-seeing man says this to the Pharisees, “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.” The Pharisees couldn’t accept the miracle of healing in this man’s life and rejected the truth. The verse contrasts sinners and the godly man. This is significant because the man who is saying this does not claim to have obeyed the law perfectly, yet he is the recipient of a miraculous healing. He is addressing the Pharisees, who prided themselves in obeying even the smallest points of the law.
It is true that we are ALL sinners and in need of the Savior. However, for those of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ and are actively following Him and His teaching, we can be counted as godly men (and women!). Thus, God does hear our prayers.
In fact, Jesus made this clear to us later in John. He is explaining to His disciples that when He is gone, they will be able to confidently ask God the Father for things in His name. This is found in John 16:23-27:
We firmly believe that this passage, in Jesus’ own words, confirms that we can confidently believe that God hears our prayers! He said this to the disciples, knowing full well (because He is God!) that some who were listening were about to sin, even to the point of denying Him (think about Peter!). Even knowing what was to come, Jesus didn’t exclude Peter from hearing and believing these encouraging words.
The Word says that we are the temple of the living God in 2 Corinthians 6:16. Does that mean that God vacates every time we sin and “moves back in” when we repent? We don’t believe that is the case.
Do we think that God likes our sin, even a little? Absolutely not!
We do know, however, that like any good parent, God is patient. He is quick to forgive when we repent. God’s grace is BIG for us. He knows our weaknesses and chooses to bless us in spite of ourselves. We are so grateful for God’s amazing grace! We’re painfully aware that we need it daily. We sin every day. We repent. We know that God wants us to grow and change to be ever-increasingly like Jesus. We believe He wants our success in this even more than we do, just because He is perfect and we are not.
We do know, however, that like any good parent, God is patient. He is quick to forgive when we repent. God’s grace is BIG for us. He knows our weaknesses and chooses to bless us in spite of ourselves. We are so grateful for God’s amazing grace! We’re painfully aware that we need it daily. We sin every day. We repent. We know that God wants us to grow and change to be ever-increasingly like Jesus. We believe He wants our success in this even more than we do, just because He is perfect and we are not.
If any of you have had any questions about where we stand as the bloggers on The Imperfect Wives (Praying Wives Club), we pray that this answers them. We also pray that you will continue to see the evidence of God’s grace in your lives, as we see it in ours.
With love and prayers,
Rebecca and Cherie ♥
I really enjoyed the post. A good refreshing for all of us. We can always use a good reminding.
Carrie @ comfortedbyGod.blogspot.com
Hi, Rebecca & Cherie.
This is my first visit to your great blog. Im so PROUD of you both for speaking the truth in love and compassion. As a fellow Bible teacher we are called to a high standard of accountability. Keep up your faithful work and serve Him with holiness and mercy. With lots of love, Carrie
Shirley, thanks for your kind words. You have such a gift of encouragement! We all can benefit from a being reminded that God hears us; I know that my faith was strengthened, too!
Love you!
Rebecca
Carrie,
Welcome to Praying Wives Club! We're glad you came by and visited. We hope you'll come back often and keep commenting. Cherie and I are committed to open dialogue with our readers as we share what God puts on our hearts. I've had a quick peek at your blog (I think it's soooo pretty!) and I'm looking forward to lingering and reading more soon. Your words of encouragement echo our prayers for ourselves and other praying wives: accountability, holiness, mercy, and love.
With love and prayers,
Rebecca
Hi Carrie,
Thank you so much for stopping by. I echo Rebecca's thoughts on your blog. Simply beautiful. I look forward to hanging out with you there as well.
Praising God with you,
Cherie
I could use some PRAYER WARRIORS !!!!
If you could go to my blog
http://glassofsweettea.blogspot.com/
I posted my need for prayer for my family..
Please add us to any of your prayer groups.. I would really appreciate it..
I without a doubt know that my God…..my awesome, loving forgiving God hears my prayers. When He sees my child who has hit her head hard and I pray God let her be okay and let her not have to go to the hospital and HE ANSWERS…..I know. When my sweet baby girl hours old was struggling with her every breath and scaring the dr……and the dr said we are worried about your baby……we call on the ONE who heals……friends who pray and we began to pray. Then the dr comes in and says……"we were really concerend about your baby THEN SUDDENLY"……..then suddenly is because God hears our prayers and answers. That sweet baby is going to be 4 on July 8th. Quite honestly the person using those scriptures to say God doesn't hear is taking them not only out of context but twisting their meaning. God promises to hear our prayers. We are covered by His precious forgiving blood and He hears us.Oh how He hears us. I do not honestly know who wrote that but it quite honestly sounds like retoric from a "church"(using the term loosely here) that "preaches" that God hates us unless we believe the way they believe and that God hates everyone etc etc and doesn't hear us. We are a fallen people BUT a RISEN Savior came in and took our penalty so that we by His precious grace could have a way to the Father and that is the message of the gospels. We who are unworthy, blemished and stained are made worthy, spotless and pure by the blood of the precious lamb who was slain for us. Preach it girl…our Bible holds up the fact He truly hears our cry…again and again the promises in Psalms for one and many other places holds up that our Lord and our God loves us and He hears us.
Thank you Cherie, for the sweet comment on my blog… I am truly loving your blog and have shared it with my sister and some of the woman in the bible study i lead…
My husband and I have been through a lot of harder trials in our 25 years of marriage,, but just when we get that all ironed out… then this comes along.. But I do want to stand strong beside him.. he deserves that..
Please stop by and visit my blog from time to time and say hi.. and i will for sure by coming to see you.
Have a great 4th of July weekend,, and I will be in touch..
Thanks again for the quick and sweet response.. God Bless….
Thelma,
Thank you so much for sharing your testimony of answered prayer! Keep praying and believing!
Love,
Rebecca
Oh and Cherie, I'm so enjoying you on Twitter my friend!
Hugs to you and Rebecca!
Thelma,
You are always such an encouragement to us! Thank you for continued support of this ministry!
We love you!!
Cherie.. :o)
Mrs. Lisa,
Thank you for your added comment on our post. Like Rebecca said, we truly want to dialog with everyone.
I am enjoying you on Twitter as well! I look forward to your tweets!!
Love you Mrs. Lisa and thank you so much for your continued support as well!
Cherie 🙂
Lisa,
Thanks so much for your words of encouragement! What a blessing!
Have an awesome, Jesus-filled day!
Rebecca
Thanks Rebecca and Cherie! Hugs and blessings to you both!