Does God answer our prayers? Yes. Jesus assures us that God does answer our prayers.
In fact, Jesus tells us that God our heavenly Father answers our requests far more than we as human fathers can even provide for our children. I know as a father, there is nothing I would not give for my children! In the short passage of Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus explains how much more God gives us good things when we ask him in prayer.
In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus tells us a few additional things about how we should bring our requests to God in prayer:
- We are to believe in advance that God will answer our request
- In Mark 11:25, he tells us we are to forgive others as we begin our prayer
- In Matthew 18:19-20, he tells us we should gather together in his name when bringing our requests to God
The Our Father is such a perfect model of this pattern, we should remember to pray it often, whenever we have a few minutes during the day. Even when we have nothing specific that is concerning to us, the Our Father gives us a chance to reconnect in our most important relationship. And when we pray it together, at Mass or even with just two together, we can be certain that God hears and answers us.
Today, I will pray the Our Father, bringing my needs to God, confident in his answer.
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred in Rome about A.D. 107, who reminds us of the Christian martyrs in the Middle East even today, pray for us.
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