Does God Hear?

by Tonia Lane
(Mayfield Hts, Ohio, USA)

Does God hear? Can God really hear our prayers for Forgiveness?

Answer: Yes, God can hear all our prayers. He can even "hear" our unspoken prayers. The good news is that He already forgives us even before we pray for it. God's forgiveness towards us, His attitude toward us is not conditional on our praying for forgiveness or even feeling sorry for our sins. The verse:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

while it contains a condition, is not talking about forgiveness as granted by God but of forgiveness as accepted and experienced by us. It is a two party-transaction; forgiveness is both given and received. This is all explained on the page about the definition of guilt and how to deal with it.

Actually, the more important question is: can we "hear" or, better, understand and accept that God always forgives us? We need to understand that He does not hold our sins against us or love us any less when we sin. He is trying to get us to understand how great His love is so that we will respond and allow Him to help us through life that He might bless us and have a relationship with us.