Does God hear only our prayers or is God with us so He also hears our thoughts?

In Hebrews 4 we are told that what we are is not hidden from the Lord, yet in Matthews 7 we are told that if we are evil doers God does not know us. Both are truth, yet they seen to contradict each other.

What is clear is that when we turn our backs on the world as our leader and accept Christ within to lead us, God hears not only our prayers but our every thought.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Amen

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:12-13‬ ‭

the gospel speaks as it does because it’s meant to be a discerner of our thoughts and intents

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:21-22, 27-28‬ ‭KJV‬‬

to receive the living word of Christ , it becomes as a refiners fire and purifier of our hearts core beliefs and ideas. And this is where our actions begin and end

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6:63‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:22-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

the gospel is able to re create sinful and defiled hearts into pure and godly loving hearts by faith. If we wanted to become doctors we would need to renew our minds through the knowledge on medical books and we’d learn to think what’s there so we could perform the procedures to help sick people it would become part of our mind and heart

mans design works by what information we accept and take into our belief in the gospel Jesus the creator is literally speaking us into a new life teaching us who we are and what we believe. Changing and discerning our mind and heart by truth

Hello Blik, Hebrews 4:13 makes it clear (along with a number of other verses/passages) that the Lord knows us, knows our hearts, including every thought of EVERY creature (every man, woman, child, holy angel and/or demon). In fact, I think it is probably safe to say the God knows us better than we know ourselves, yes

That said, I'm interested to hear your thoughts about all that is said in the passage from Matthew 7:21-23. For instance, you said that God does not know us if we are "evil doers", and that's exactly what we have before us in v22, "evil doers" who are standing on the very precipice of Hell before the Lord Jesus at the Great White Throne.

The evil deeds of the "many" are mentioned by them in v22. They are,


I don't know about you, but I can think of a number of things that I would classify as FAR more evil than those three things Why do you think that the Lord Jesus had such a big problem with them

Finally, the Lord (in v23) said something to the "many" (v22) that I found to be very peculiar. Jesus confirmed that they were all "evil doers"/those "WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS", just like you said, but He also said this about them, "I ~NEVER~ knew you" (and that to those who claimed to have done miraculous deed upon miraculous deed .. in Jesus' very name .. during their lifetimes here).

Why would He say, "I NEVER knew you", to them, and what do you think He meant by it (if what you believe that He meant was something other than the plain meaning of those four words)

Thanks

God bless you!!

~Deut

How perceptive of you. I have thought a lot about this. I think there is a difference between really knowing a person so you are a companion and friend and simply knowing what and who that person is. We are accepting the Lord as our companion, father, and friend.

I am reading the little book about the monk of long ago in France( Lawrece) who made himself aware of the presence of God in all he said and did. Whether he was praying or simply working at his job, he was aware of God with him. It made me think that when we have Christ within, every thought we have is a conversation with the Lord.

Hello again Blik, I agree, and I believe that BOTH the Biblical Hebrew and Greek languages agree with you too, as there are a number of different Hebrew and Greek words (that are all translated as "know/knew" in English) that make the intended meaning of the Text far clearer for us than the single English word "know" (with all of its different meanings) is able to do.

It's obvious that God knows all about ALL of us .. e.g. Psalm 139:1-16 (see esp,, v16), but that the "knowing" that He speaks of, in verses like Matthew 7:23 and John 17:3, is of a FAR more intimate nature than it is in other verses and passages.
than

Blik said:

I am reading the little book about the monk of long ago in France( Lawrece) who made himself aware of the presence of God in all he said and did. Whether he was praying or simply working at his job, he was aware of God with him. It made me think that when we have Christ within, every thought we have is a conversation with the Lord

Click to expand...

Ah yes, someone gave me a copy of his little book (The Practice of the Presence of God, or something like that, yes ) and I read it years ago. It was an amazing way to look at the Christian life, and it was certainly helpful (eye-opening) in my coming to understand that the commands in passages like 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (see below .. particularly v17) can actually/literally be obeyed, and that they are, in fact, meant to be

God bless you

~Deut
p.s. - I'd like to make a couple of additional comments, but I'll have to get to those later (Dv).

I'm at the Mat right now doing tons of wash for an homeward bound hospital patient. Likely home tomorrow.

I hope God can't hear my thoughts.

It sounds like you need to read Brother Lawrence's little book Sister

If you'd like to read it, you can buy it, or you can just go here and click on the, "Get the Free PDF Download Now" link (and then pick your download format .. Kindle, EPUB and/or several others). Enjoy!

God bless you

~Deut

Thank you. God bless you too.

Does he talk about not taking life too seriously and having a pliable sense of humor about chores?

Sort of. It has to do with looking at even the most mundane routines in our lives in a different way (by making God part of/at the center of all of it, if memory serves .. I’m talking myself into reading it again as it’s short enough to read in one sitting).

I'll have to check that out. Thanks.

Let's look at this from Jesus' own words.

AKA "The Lord's Prayer"

He gave it to us as the model to emulate...

Now what is the first word?

"Our". Right?

Meaning that we aren't supposed to do it alone.
The "Amen" at the end is not for the person speaking but for those praying with to say because it is Hebrew or Latin for "I Agree" (drawing a blank this late at night)

So....what does that tell you?

What inspired this post was the new idea that came to me that our prayers like the Lord's prayer is not the only communication we have with the Lord, but when we have Christ within and Christ leads us, all our thoughts are communications with the Lord. That is what prayer is: communication with the Lord.

God knows the real thoughts that emanate from the heart (Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 2:23) God knows all things. There is no contradiction. There are two meanings of "know". One is to be aware of, to know about. The other is to have developed a relationship with someone. It is in the latter sense that God/Lord Jesus knows or does not know someone.

For example, you may read a biography of a famous person and be familiar with what they've said and achieved. You know about them. In contrast, you have friends and family who are a part of your life. You know them, not just know about them.

That's true...not even an issue with that thought line.

What I'm saying in conjunction with this is that we need to speak our prayers to God aloud with others.

It's a thingy that does wonderful things for you.

God is omniscient...He already knows stuff. Just saying.

Have you thought about what the Lord is hearing when an entire church is repeating the Lord's prayer? It is not the words by rote God hears but God hears what is in the minds of each person repeating those words. Some are being led by the Lord in their prayer and some are wondering about dinner.

Well...the last time I heard it that way was in St. Mark's church which was started by Coptics who had escaped persecution in Egypt. Their children were getting ready for Easter. They said it in 4 languages...the last being in English.

I was enthralled listening to them...they, being children, weren't that enthralled reciting it.

But the model prayer is just that...a model. The four types of prayers said by Jesus listed in Hebrews are always fascinating to me. And I have a healthy fear using the last two.

God hears ALL prayers.

Doesn't matter if you don't think so...He is listening. He has answered mine in a very pointed manner about my use of language. Just saying...

That is so rue but God doesn't hear words repeated by rote, God hears what is in our hearts. This is not only as we repeat words, or address our thoughts to God, but all our thoughts all the time It isn't what words we use to pray, it is what we have in our hearts and minds.

Psalms 139:2.

That is one of the four...

Jesus used one regularly. A rough translation is "Thank you God of the Universe for basic food". That was the "giving thanks" for the meal...

"Depart from me, I never knew you."
Jesus warns people that this will be the fate of those who are religious but yet who are unloving. To be known of God in this context is to be intimately joined, accepted and embraced by Him, those whom He says He does not "Know", thought He may have been in their very presence when He said it, He says in this context, I refuse to KNOW you, to be joined to you intimately. I regard you as a stranger though I am still acutely aware of all of the thoughts and intents of your heart.

hope that this helps.