Question:  Dear Greg,

            Does God really listen to our prayers?  I pray to him every night, but there does not seem to be anyone out there listening to me.  How do I know that he’s listening?  Sometimes I just feel helpless and if God is unwilling to help, should I not instead turn to Lucifer?  I don’t want to, but I don’t know what to do anymore.

            Jonathan

Answer:  Dear Jonathan,

            To assume that God is not listening because he does not respond in the affirmative, in the way that you want and expect is rather silly, don’t you think?  God is not human.  He will not be manipulated.  He listens to all of our prayers, sometimes saying “yes”, sometimes “no”, and sometimes “let’s think about that and consider it for a while.”

            God does not tell us that he will answer our prayers in the way we want—somewhat like the company that promises to deliver a pizza to us in 30 minutes or less after we order.  God is our loving heavenly parent, giving us what we need, not always what we want.

            To threaten God with praying to Lucifer seems similar to the young child who gives his/her parents the ultimatum “I’m running away from home because you’re not giving me what I want.”

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht