Does God Listen To Our Silent Prayers?

Last Updated on September 20, 2021 by Pastor Ikechukwu Chinedum

As funny as this question seems, it is one of the most asked among Christians. Many people don’t have the courage to ask this question because they think that people might think less of them.

If this question has ever crossed your mind whether as a baby Christian or a Christian who is deeply rooted in the word of God, never feel embarrassed to ask. For knowledge is not designed for those who know it, it is established for those who taste after it.

So often times when people ask me this question, do I need to pray aloud before God can listen to me? Does he ever hear the humble cry that I say to Him silently in the heart?

Well, if I want to be sincere with my judgment based on the scriptural context, can listen to the prayers we say to him in our heart. You might be a little surprised by that answer. The one who makes the eye can surely see everything that is going and the one that makes the eat can surely hear us even when we whisper.

How that the book of Hebrews 4:12 talks about how the word of God sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This explains that God has access to our hearts through His word.

Also, the book of Proverbs 15 vs 26 The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight. How can the Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked if He doesn’t have access to the event going on in the mind?

A better way to explain this is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. After the fall of man, Man lost his place in the agenda of God. The essence of man’s creation is for him to always have a consistent Koinonia (Fellowship, intimacy, Relationship) with God. However, after the sin of man, Man lost that right. Since then, God has been on the mission to restore man to the original position that He wants man to be.

Interestingly, when Christ came, and after his works on earth, he promised to send the comforter. The comforter is the spirit of God that will dwell in a man. So in that way, man no longer needs to run Helter skelter in search of God because the body of man is now the dwelling place of God.

How Does The Holy Spirit Assist in letting God hear our silent Prayer?

I believe the book of Romans 8:26 is best for explaining this. At times God doesn’t need us to pray loud, he doesn’t expect us to carefully put our word together in place of prayer. God understands that there are times that our hearts will be too troubled to think of words and our lips will be too burdened to speak.

However, the Spirit of God intercedes for us through the groaning of our hearts.
This explains that even while we are not speaking, God listens to every thought that runs through our minds.

There is no doubt that Prayer is one of the greatest gifts of God to man. The ability and privilege to communicate with our heavenly father. Now by the spirit of God, God doesn’t only reside in the temple because our body has become a temple that carries God. So if God dwells in our body, how will he not be able to hear and understands the thoughts that ruminate in our hearts?

What does the Bible say about silent prayers?

One of the similar examples in the scripture is the life of Hannah. The prayer of Hannah at the Shiloh was an inaudible petition to God.

1Samuel 1:10, 13, Hannah’s heart was burdened with the thought of barrenness. She could not make a single sound in the place of prayer, her mouth moved but no word was coming from it, she prayed bitterly in her heart. And behold, God granted unto Hannah according to her heart desire.

Though the scripture does not give a specification on how to pray a silent prayer or when to pray it. But available shreds of evidence have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that God sincerely listens to silent prayers.

How About Prayers that I say in the secret?

The scripture made us understand that God is omnipresent, He is present everywhere. Whether you pray openly or say it secretly, there is surely a God whose business is to answer prayers. The book of Mathew 6 vs 6 “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”. God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. It doesn’t matter how and when, whether we do it in an open or secret place.

Daniel’s prayer was done in the secret and God rewarded him openly. There are times that you pray with people together to lift the spirit of one another. And there are times that all you need to do is go to God secretly and pour out your mind to him. We get some level of confidence when we in our secret place praying to God.

There are things that we won’t want our prayer partners to know, there are things we wouldn’t want them to hear, but we can pour it all out to God in place of prayer.

In essence, if anyone asks you whether God answers silent prayers, I bet you know the answers now. And you surely know that God answers silent prayers too. So, you don’t have to wait until to get into the midst of the crowd before you communicate with your father. Speak to Him all the time because he listens.