Does God Hear My Prayers?

I've probably written on this topic before, but it's a good one and it came up again today, so if it's a repeat, oh well.

    This morning at church the topic of our Sunday School lesson was prayer.  The questions came up "Why do people turn to prayer as a last resort?" and "Why do we think that God doesn't hear our prayers?"

Here are my thoughts:

    My answer to the first question, "Why do people turn to prayer as a last resort?"  is - It's just straight up pride. Just like in any other situation (at work, for instance), we try to do everything ourselves before we ask for help - maybe because we think we can do it on our own, or maybe because we don't want to bother anyone.  I think we tend to act this way with asking God for anything too.  We think we can do it ourselves, so we try our hardest to make things happen, and only turn to God when we fail.  Sometimes it may be because we don't want to bother God, especially with something that seems like small potatoes.   But let me tell you something.  First off, when we try to do things on our own even if we seem to succeed, the only reason for our success would be because it was in God's will.  It's certainly not because of anything we can do. And in most cases, we fail anyway.  And as for inconveniencing God by coming to Him with the small things - That's not possible.  Our Father loves us so much that He wants for us to come to Him with anything and everything.  Think of the people that you love the most.  You would do anything for them, wouldn't you?  Anything you possibly could.  This is a good place to use the parent/child relationship.  And while I don't know what it's like to be a parent, I have seen my own parents do everything they can for their children.  But while humans have limitations, God has no limitations.  He can actually do anything and everything for His children.  And, He loves us more than it is humanly possible to love someone.  So why would He be bothered by us coming to Him and telling Him what's on our mind?  (Matthew 6:25-33 addresses this!)

    As for the second question "Why do we think that God doesn't hear our prayers?" : This is something I struggle with sometimes.   I know deep down that He does hear me.  I trust this.  But when I don't clearly hear His answer. it makes it hard.  It's obvious to us when the answer to our prayer is "Yes".  But it can be hard to differentiate between a "no" answer and a "wait" answer.  This is where I struggle.  On this infertility journey I can't know if our answer is "no" or "wait", until I either have children, or get too old to have children.  That is a hard pill to swallow.   But that doesn't mean that God isn't hearing my prayers.  It was also mentioned in class that it's about our expectations.  When our expectations are not met, we feel like God hasn't heard our prayers. I know for me, it's often my expectations about timing that are not met.  When things don't happen when I think they should, I feel like God didn't hear me.  But I know in reality that God's timetable is rarely the same as mine, and of course that His timing is supremely better than mine is.  

    This is where faith comes in.  I know all of these things.  I believe that God hears and answers my prayers.  I believe that His timing is perfect.  I believe that He is working everything out according to His perfect plan.  And I believe that He has a plan specifically for my life. But I all too often let my own fleshly thoughts and feelings get in the way, and that's when I start to doubt.
    And quite often, especially lately, I don't even know what to pray anymore. In these instances, I am grateful for the Holy Spirit who intercedes on my behalf.  And I am also thankful for fellow believers who are praying for us. For those reading this who are included in that - I need you more than you know.   💕

-MNM