God answers the prayers of believers with grace and mercy — sometimes doing far more than they ask, while never being obligated to grant any specific request.
When a believer brings a request with thanksgiving and understanding, God hears that person as an individual and responds according to His grace and mercy. The Holy Spirit helps when words fail, and Scripture promises that God can do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. At the same time, God is not obligated to do what any person asks.
Philippians 4:6-7 — This is the key passage on how believers are to pray — with thanksgiving — and it frames the response as the peace of God guarding the heart and mind.
Scripture consistently pictures prayer as honest communication with God. In Philippians, believers are told to make their requests known to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God is promised to guard hearts and minds. Paul also says he will pray with the spirit and with the understanding also, showing that prayer is not meant to be a meaningless or unknown expression. When a believer does not know what to pray, the Holy Spirit himself intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered, and the Father who searches the heart knows the mind of the Spirit. Furthermore, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to His power at work in us. Hebrews adds that the sacrifice of praise — the fruit of our lips — is what God desires.
Les teaches that prayer is not a matter of repeating the same requests endlessly. He says it does not do any good to go before God with ask after ask; instead we are to approach Him with thanksgiving, thanking Him for what He is going to do before we see it. God already knows what we need, but He wants us to communicate with Him rather than simply assume He can read our minds. Les also makes prayer an intelligent exercise: he emphasizes praying with understanding, not in a language you don't know, and he clarifies that when we are overwhelmed and cannot form words, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us — not as a tongues experience, but as a quiet communion on our behalf. God hears every believer as an individual, no matter how many are praying at the same moment. Finally, Les is realistic about the hearer of prayer: God is not going to answer the prayers of an unbeliever who is just trying to escape a tight spot, though He will hear their prayer for salvation. And for believers, God closes the entire request with the promise that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.
Les says it does no good to go before God and 'ask and ask and ask' — God is not paying attention if we never acknowledge that He doesn't have to answer. Instead, we are to thank Him first for what He is going to do with our request. God also wants to hear praise from our lips, not just see it in our hearts, because the whole idea of prayer is communication.
When we know what we want but cannot put it into words, Les says, 'just be quiet, just shut up, and let the Holy Spirit commune for you.' This is not a tongues experience; the Holy Spirit makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. God searches the heart and knows the mind of the Spirit, so the request is fully understood.
Les teaches that God hears each believer as an individual — even if a million believers are approaching the throne at the same moment, He hears every person. But God will not hear the prayer of an unbeliever just to get them out of a tight spot; the carnal mind is enmity against God. The one exception is the prayer for salvation, which God does hear.
Les points to Ephesians 3:20 to say that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. Even when a request seems beyond understanding, with God's help the believer can experience answers that exceed what was asked or even imagined.
Prayer With Thanksgiving and Communication
Les explains that a prayer which only asks and asks is not what God wants; prayer should begin by thanking God for what He will do, and God wants us to communicate what we desire.
Prayer With Understanding
Les uses 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 to show that prayer should be offered with understanding; speaking to God in an unknown language fails the person praying because they don't know what they are saying.
The Holy Spirit's Intercession
Les describes the believer who knows what they want but cannot put it into words; his counsel is to stay quiet and let the Holy Spirit intercede with unutterable groanings.
God Hears Each Believer
Les teaches that even when millions of believers are praying at once, God hears each one as an individual and knows the heart of that person.
Unbelievers' Prayers
Les draws a clear boundary: the carnal mind is God's enemy, so God will not answer an unbeliever's prayers just to get them out of trouble; but the prayer for salvation is different and is heard.
The Moment Death Entered the World: Genesis 3 & Romans 5 Explained
But instead of just asking somebody, are you a Christian, you ask the question in this way, if you were to die tonight or tomorrow, on what basis do you think God would let you into his heaven? And you know, that's the perfect way of putting it. On what basis do you think God should let you into his heaven? My, you'll start getting as many different answers as you have people to ask.
Speaking Praise to God
Les says God wants to hear praise from our lips, not just know it is in our heart; communication is the whole idea of prayer.
God Does Exceedingly Abundantly
Les points to Ephesians 3:20 and says God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power working in us.
Philippians 4:6-7: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
This is the foundational verse for how believers are to pray and what God promises in return.
Romans 8:26-27: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
It describes the Holy Spirit's intercession when believers cannot put their prayers into words.
1 Corinthians 14:15: What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
It shows that prayer should be offered with understanding, not in a language the person does not know.
Ephesians 3:20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
It declares that God can answer beyond anything we ask or imagine.
Hebrews 13:15: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
It shows that God desires praise spoken from the lips, which is the communication He wants in prayer.
Romans 8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
It explains why the unsaved cannot expect answered prayers when they are at enmity with God.
No. Les says God already knows what we need; prayer is not about changing God's mind, but about communicating with Him. In the transcripts, he stresses that God knows before we ask, yet He still wants us to make our requests known.
Thanksgiving is essential. Les teaches that it doesn't do any good to go before God and ask repeatedly; we are to thank Him first for what He is going to do. God wants praise from our lips, and that attitude recognizes that He is not obligated to do what we ask.
When we don't know what to pray, we can be quiet and let the Holy Spirit intercede with groanings that cannot be uttered. This is not a tongues experience; it is the Spirit communing for us, and God who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit means.
Les says God will hear an unbeliever's prayer for salvation, but He is not going to answer their prayers just to get them out of a tight spot. The carnal mind is enmity against God, so those prayers are not received the same way as the prayers of believers.
Watch the Teaching: Why God Says Pray About Everything — Philippians 4:6-7