Hey Father,
I know this isn't how people normally post questions, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. But I was wondering if you had to speak your prayers out loud for God to hear them or if you could just think them. Also, does God take everything you say literally? Because a reoccurring theme in my prayers is that I feel like God might take something I said and find a way around it. For example, if I were to pray that a person does not get the Swine Flu, could they still get Influenza? Or would God say, sorry, you only prayed for Swine Flu.
Unknown
Unknown,
I am sorry that I did not respond to this sooner as I was unaware of the question in the comment box. God can hear your prayers whether you say them quietly to yourself or out loud. However, there are times when it is appropriate to pray out loud such as the responses at Mass or when people publicly pray the Rosary or other devotional prayers done publicly. Other times it might be best to pray quietly to yourself such as when one prays at intermittent times throughout the day in the midst of their work routine As far as God finding a way around your prayers we have to realize that God is not playing games with us. Also, we have to realize that just because we pray for something that does not mean that God will do what we want. The important part of petitioning prayer is that we pray for things that are not opposed to God's law of love and that we pray for them if it be God's will. Just because we do not get the response we want does not mean that God's is not answering us. In as much as we take anything that happens to us in life and come to know and follow God more closely than his will is done.
