Does God Intervene in our Lives?

God-With-Us

The whole premise of Christianity, after all, is that God definitively intervened in the person of Jesus – whose other name, “Emmanuel,” means “God-With-Us.” According to the New Testament and subsequent history – starting with the Acts of the Apostles – a “cloud of witnesses” have asserted that he/she is still with us. And prayer, in which we often ask God to intervene, is a staple of Christianity as it is with most religious faiths.

For many of us, however, prayers of petition, unlike prayers of adoration, thanksgiving and contrition, raise hard questions. Personally, I think many such prayers – and these include many that Catholics regularly hear in the “Prayers of the Faithful” at Mass – are misdirected.

Take prayers in which we ask God to take care of the poor. Doesn’t God expect us to do that? Or prayers seeking peace. Doesn’t he want us to be his/her instruments of peace? Wouldn’t it be better to ask God to help us be who we should be and do what we should do?

So how do you know if God has heard your prayers? Let’s say you pray fervently for something you want, or want to happen, and you don’t get it. Does that mean God didn’t hear your prayer? Or you pray fervently for something you want, or want to happen, and you get it. Does that mean God did hear you?