When God Hears Prayers

Q. One of the ladies in my Bible Study asked if God hears our prayers if we pray silently, or do we have to pray them out loud. Someone had told her that unless prayers are said out loud, they aren’t heard or answered.

A. God hears our thoughts as easily as our spoken words. The Scriptures are full of examples of both, and there are times when we pray silently, and there are times we are to pray out loud. Yeshua prayed out loud so others could hear, like at the tomb of Lazarus for example (Jn 11.41-42). But your question centers around silent prayer specifically, so let’s look at a few examples. In Gen. 24.34-45 we have the example of Eliezar who was sent by Abraham to find a wife for Isaac. He comes to a well and silently asks the Lord to give him insight into who she might be. As he recounts the scene, he says that while he was speaking to himself (silently) Rebekah came and fulfilled what he was looking for. Another example is the story of Hannah in 1 Sam. 1.12-15. She is praying silently and Eli the High Priest notices her but can’t hear what she is saying only her lips were moving (v13).

He inquires the nature of her prayer, she tells him and he tells her to go in peace that God will grant her request, and Samuel is born later. There is another example in Neh. 2.1-4 where Nehemiah is standing before the King, and he notices that Nehemiah is upset. He asks what is wrong, and what could he do to help, so it says Nehemiah “prayed to the Lord” (v4) and then tells the King what he wants.

There is no indication in the text or context that Nehemiah’s prayer was anything else but silent. Lastly, we have another example in the Book of Lk 18.9-14. This is the famous story of the Pharisee who was praying in the Temple “thus to himself” ( v 11). And the story describes his prayer, and Gods response to it. So, it is quit clear in the Scriptures that God does hear silent prayers, and even knows what we need before we even ask.