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You asked...
Does God hear our prayers even though a person may be in kneeling at his bedside and NOT saying the prayer out loud, but in one's head? Many of times I will be driving, or walking down the street, or even wake up during the night, and I will pray, but I have to say that my prayers are not ones that others can hear.
Thank you!
Dear Prayerful,
In D&C 19:28, it states: "And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart: yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private." This means that we can pray in all places and at all times, whenever we need to. Since this is so, it is often mandatory that it is done in silent prayer do to the situation we find ourselves in.
We have many modern-day examples of people praying silently in their minds and with their hearts. There is silent prayer time during the sacrament. People praying silently in the chapel and in the gathering room of the temple while waiting for a session. Many have prayed silently in the Celestial Room for answers and have come away enlightened.
We are told to pray throughout the day during our fast. It is not always easy to find a private place to kneel down to do this. What about the times that we are in desperate need and without a place or the time to go on bended knee to ask for help from God? I remember praying desperately several times when we were about to crash in an auto accident. Many of these accidents were aborted. The ones that did take place, we suffered no physical injury. In all cases there was a direct and immediate answer to our silent prayers.
God know the desires of our hearts before we ever speak to Him about them. In D&C 6:16 it states: "Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart."
Some people feel that at times that their fight against Satan is such a desperate one that they want to go to God privately, so that Satan cannot hear. According to this last scripture it is only God that can hear the desires of our heart.
Many people open their day with prayer planning the day with God and asking for help through the day. They leave their prayer open-ended so that the prayer lasts the whole day long. They literally share their whole day with the Lord. The scripture in Alma 34: 27 supports their actions. It states: "Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you." Here again you can see the use of silent pray of the heart. This time the Lord suggest that we use silent prayer to speak to Him constantly through the day.
Some people feel that they are imposing on the Lord when they do this, but this is not so. In Alma 34:19-25, it tells to pray unto the Lord about our fields, flocks, houses, household, against the power of your enemies, against the devil, the prospering of our crops, and the increase of our flocks. This shows us that God want to hear about every aspect of our lives and that there is nothing that He does not want to hear about that has to do with our lives. He wants us to be with Him whether it is with silent pray or vocal prayer. We are important to Him, because He is our Eternal Heavenly Father.