Prayer is so important in order for believers to grow in Jesus. Prayer is the gift of communication with our Father. God hears all prayers. He is creator, saviour and sustainer and therefore is able to do anything. Psalm 157:5 proclaims "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."

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When struggling and doubting whether God hears our prayers we should turn our focus to Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." The first thing to remember and marvel about is that the Lord God will always answer prayer but maybe we don’t see. Although Matthew 7:7 seems as if we can ask for anything and we will get it, we must look at the Scripture as a whole in order to understand how we can pray effectively. Psalm 145:17 says that "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." the emphasis being on those who "call on him in truth." Although Matthew 7:7 says we can ask and it will be given other portions of Scripture teach us that God will answer prayer according to His will. God will always answer our prayers bur maybe not in the way we want. If we are asking in truth and according to the will of the Lord, God will be more than delighted to answer our prayers in the way we want. John 14:13 says "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." But if our prayers are not according to Gods will or purpose the answer may not be what our short-sighted vision thought was best; this is still an answer.

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The Lord answers prayers according to his will, we see this in 1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." God wants us to pray. He loves hearing us talking to him. God invented prayer so we can have a close relationship with Him. Throughout the Bible we see Biblical men and women crying out in prayer as did Jesus Christ. In Luke 23 verse 24 Jesus dying in anguish cried  "Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots”. Prayer is not only something good to do but something vital to do. We are encouraged to take up Jesus’ example and follow in his ways, in Matthew 6 Jesus teaches us how to pray: "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. And 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 other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” 

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We must ensure that when we pray we are not clinging onto sin, praying according to our own selfish desires but rather pray in accordance with His will for us in faith. When we pray in this way Godi s delighted to not only hear but answer our prayers.

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