Hmmmm....
I like the question, and I'd like to share my thoughts. (warning, wall of text follows!)
Firstly, how one answers this question will hinge of what one understands (or misunderstands) about the spiritual real, aka the spirit world, aka the aspect of the universe that complements the material world, as the cause to effect.
The human being (God's creation) is a microcosm of the cosmos. We have both spirit and flesh. The flesh is like the soil in which our spirit grows. In God's design, once the spirit reaches maturity, the earthy flesh is discarded, and the spirit lives on eternally in God's presence. Where? In the spiritual realm, the spirit world, aka often referred to as "Heaven", as in, Our Father, who are in heaven, .... thy kingdom come, on earth as in heaven." God's cosmos has both a material realm (the universe) and a spiritual realm ("spirit world", "spiritual realms", "heaven" (not to be confused with Heaven as the realm in spirit where God resides).
The spiritual realm is real, alive, but because of SIN, our human capacity to sense, understand and consciously interact with that realm and all who live in it (all past souls, angels, and God who resides at the very center and apex of the spiritual dimension) was severely crippled.
Prayer is nothing more than the spiritual reaching out, and when we dedicate that prayer to the Father, or to Christ, or anyone else, it establishes a connection that is primarily directed by our intention.
This is why black magic and such evil practices also work: the intention is to connect and communicate with evil and the forces of evil, etc, that also reside in the spirit world.
So, when you pray to God, God hears you, not simply because he is omniscient, although he is, but because you are reaching out and connecting in spirit with your intent. (We are taught to 'worship' in spirit and truth.)
God can sense our thoughts, feelings and everything inside us whether we intend it or not. But the effectiveness of prayer is connected to our intent. ("If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move". This teaching from Jesus shows us directly that our INTENT is a factor. Faith is belief + intent. Prayer is far more powerful when you believe that it will be answered.)
Angels are spiritual beings, and the higher level angels can certain interact with us spiritually, and often do even if we are not aware of them. So, they also can "hear" our thoughts, sense our feelings, and respond to, for example, a "prayer".
While his omniscience allows our Father to perceive and sense ALL that we are, and all that we experience, he created the spiritual realm as our eternal home, and if your spiritual senses are awake, you can sense many things. The main problem is that sin has crippled most people's ability to sense (via their spiritual senses) the spiritual dimension.
An active prayer life will stimulate and enhance your spiritual senses in most cases. This is why in deep profound prayer, one can receive revelation, inspiration, and sense deeper truths. Because our spirit self is designed and created by God's word, the Truth elicited a resonance from our spirit and we respond.
But many hear the truth and do not respond, or respond on all sorts of different levels. A saint hears the truth and is profoundly transformed into embodying God's love and living for the sake of all humanity. someone mired in sin can hear the truth and feel no connection at all. God's grace is a critical factor here, as it is through the power of God's grace that our spirits are 'pricked' and activated to feel and respond to the truth.
And when we live the truth, our spirit grows.
Two thousand years ago, Christ came to humanity and taught fundamental truths, and yet, Christ also stated very clearly, that he had many things to share (even 'heavenly things') but that his disciples and the people of the time were not able to receive aka 'understand' them. Paul also indicates that he (and 'we', the Christians of his time) saw (i.e. understood) only dimly as in a mirror but THEN (aka sometime in the future) he (we) would understand even as we are understood. Who understands us? God and Christ.
Two thousand years ago, humanity had almost no understanding of material laws of nature, how the material universe works, its structure and composition, etc. So also, their capacity to grasp the nature of the spiritual reality - its structure, how it works, what laws rule it, how the spirit exists and functions, etc - was unfortunately very small.
But Science has progressed to understand more and more about the material aspect of God's creation. (And this is why all the truly great scientists in history had a profound appreciation for the reality of God.)
This is another reason why Christ must return - to bring us in to that state where "we understand as we are understood". Ignorance of spiritual reality is a very big burden for humanity, and its a key reason why evil (including atheistic communism) tries every and all methods to get people to focus exclusively on the material ("God does not exist") or get so caught up in material life that their spiritual sense is always buried under a ton of distractions, preoccupations, and misunderstandings.
Another reason to pray, and pray more. Prayer helps to open our connection with God (it's actually a two-way street, God is always there and waiting, but we have to also make an effort), but it also activates and utilizes our spiritual capacity, thereby helping it to grow.
In conclusion, in my understanding, Archangels and even many other angels, not to mention those who reside in the spirit realm, can and do interact with us and yes, sense or feel our thoughts and feelings. Just like two people who are very close can sense what the other is feeling, often.
I think it is fine to be aware of angels etc, but prayer is something that should ideally be reserved for the Father. Prayer is actually nothing more than the impulses of the heart being expressed in communicative form with intent. Jesus hears our prayers because he is one with the Father, and feels all things just as the Father does.
Appendum: The scripture is replete with many hints and clues about spiritual reality. However, the logical and mental structure of our brains were undeveloped before and during last 200 years. In modern times, however, we now have a much greater capacity to connect directly with God AND understand God's reality logically and with the intellect he gave us.
Recall that Jesus had a consultation with the spirits of Moses and Elijah on the Mt Transfiguration. Recall that during the 40 day resurrection period following Jesus' rise from the dead, many of the people of Jerusalem witness the presence of the saints of the old testament (we see that in acts) (because their spiritual senses were momentarily opened and activated by the presence of Christ's own resurrection.)
"The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God's people) who had fallen asleep [in death] were raised [to life]; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people."
The 'tombs' is symbolic language expressing the darker realms of the spirit world where the saints of the old testament resided. Christ's resurrection opened up a whole new realm of the spirit world, which is what scripture calls "paradise". A realm in the spirit where Satan has no jurisdiction, where Christ is the center, and where we move spiritually when we embrace Jesus, and believe in him.
If you read this far, congratulations! Might be a lot to take in, but I recommend (or suggest) that if you are interested, pray about this, and ask Heavenly Father if what I've written here is true, or how much is true. Ultimately, God is the one who reveals truth. But also each of us has a spirit, and this is why 'understanding' is so subjective. The challenge is to refine our understanding, through scripture study and prayer, so that it aligns more and more with God's understanding. That's the challenge and the path of true faith, imo.
One last word I know that what I've written will conflict and contrast with different people's understanding of the topic, aka spiritual reality. But its hard to deny that one of the key reasons for the fracturing of Christianity through hundreds of different denominations is primarily grounded in different views about spiritual reality (leading all the way up to theological views about how, where in what manner God exists and indeed, who he is). How can we get beyond this?
The cause of conflict within the body of Christ has been our limited capacity to directly perceive and understand spiritual reality. So everyone has a different vie and different opinion and different belief. This situation will only be overcome when we start to understand spiritual reality in an OBJECTIVE way. Aka when we can come to grasp spiritual reality to the same level that we now grasp material reality. And this will only happen when we can begin to experience spiritual reality via our own spiritual senses.
At some point, the ignorance will be overcome (imo), and unity will reign as spiritual reality becomes clearer and clearer. I believe the Great Awakening is part of God's work for that end. What greater exposure to spiritual reality than realizing that satanic evil is real and has been dominating our world, concretely speaking, via all that is now being exposed?
Truly, 'it's going to be biblical'. Many already millions and hundreds of million, recognize that what we're now involved in is a spiritual war. That war has ALWAYS been there, but now we're seeing it in crystal clear hi-definition. Thus, the awakening proceeds.
May his Kingdom come on Earth as in Heaven.
Hmmmm....
I like the question, and I'd like to share my thoughts. (warning, wall of text follows!)
Firstly, how one answers this question will hinge of what one understands (or misunderstands) about the spiritual real, aka the spirit world, aka the aspect of the universe that complements the material world, as the cause to effect.
The human being (God's creation) is a microcosm of the cosmos. We have both spirit and flesh. The flesh is like the soil in which our spirit grows. In God's design, once the spirit reaches maturity, the earthy flesh is discarded, and the spirit lives on eternally in God's presence. Where? In the spiritual realm, the spirit world, aka often referred to as "Heaven", as in, Our Father, who are in heaven, .... thy kingdom come, on earth as in heaven." God's cosmos has both a material realm (the universe) and a spiritual realm ("spirit world", "spiritual realms", "heaven" (not to be confused with Heaven as the realm in spirit where God resides).
The spiritual realm is real, alive, but because of SIN, our human capacity to sense, understand and consciously interact with that realm and all who live in it (all past souls, angels, and God who resides at the very center and apex of the spiritual dimension) was severely crippled.
Prayer is nothing more than the spiritual reaching out, and when we dedicate that prayer to the Father, or to Christ, or anyone else, it establishes a connection that is primarily directed by our intention.
This is why black magic and such evil practices also work: the intention is to connect and communicate with evil and the forces of evil, etc, that also reside in the spirit world.
So, when you pray to God, God hears you, not simply because he is omniscient, although he is, but because you are reaching out and connecting in spirit with your intent. (We are taught to 'worship' in spirit and truth.)
God can sense our thoughts, feelings and everything inside us whether we intend it or not. But the effectiveness of prayer is connected to our intent. ("If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move". This teaching from Jesus shows us directly that our INTENT is a factor. Faith is belief + intent. Prayer is far more powerful when you believe that it will be answered.)
Angels are spiritual beings, and the higher level angels can certain interact with us spiritually, and often do even if we are not aware of them. So, they also can "hear" our thoughts, sense our feelings, and respond to, for example, a "prayer".
While his omniscience allows our Father to perceive and sense ALL that we are, and all that we experience, he created the spiritual realm as our eternal home, and if your spiritual senses are awake, you can sense many things. The main problem is that sin has crippled most people's ability to sense (via their spiritual senses) the spiritual dimension.
An active prayer life will stimulate and enhance your spiritual senses in most cases. This is why in deep profound prayer, one can receive revelation, inspiration, and sense deeper truths. Because our spirit self is designed and created by God's word, the Truth elicited a resonance from our spirit and we respond.
But many hear the truth and do not respond, or respond on all sorts of different levels. A saint hears the truth and is profoundly transformed into embodying God's love and living for the sake of all humanity. someone mired in sin can hear the truth and feel no connection at all. God's grace is a critical factor here, as it is through the power of God's grace that our spirits are 'pricked' and activated to feel and respond to the truth.
And when we live the truth, our spirit grows.
Two thousand years ago, Christ came to humanity and taught fundamental truths, and yet, Christ also stated very clearly, that he had many things to share (even 'heavenly things') but that his disciples and the people of the time were not able to receive aka 'understand' them. Paul also indicates that he (and 'we', the Christians of his time) saw (i.e. understood) only dimly as in a mirror but THEN (aka sometime in the future) he (we) would understand even as we are understood. Who understands us? God and Christ.
Two thousand years ago, humanity had almost no understanding of material laws of nature, how the material universe works, its structure and composition, etc. So also, their capacity to grasp the nature of the spiritual reality - its structure, how it works, what laws rule it, how the spirit exists and functions, etc - was unfortunately very small.
But Science has progressed to understand more and more about the material aspect of God's creation. (And this is why all the truly great scientists in history had a profound appreciation for the reality of God.)
This is another reason why Christ must return - to bring us in to that state where "we understand as we are understood". Ignorance of spiritual reality is a very big burden for humanity, and its a key reason why evil (including atheistic communism) tries every and all methods to get people to focus exclusively on the material ("God does not exist") or get so caught up in material life that their spiritual sense is always buried under a ton of distractions, preoccupations, and misunderstandings.
Another reason to pray, and pray more. Prayer helps to open our connection with God (it's actually a two-way street, God is always there and waiting, but we have to also make an effort), but it also activates and utilizes our spiritual capacity, thereby helping it to grow.
In conclusion, in my understanding, Archangels and even many other angels, not to mention those who reside in the spirit realm, can and do interact with us and yes, sense or feel our thoughts and feelings. Just like two people who are very close can sense what the other is feeling, often.
I think it is fine to be aware of angels etc, but prayer is something that should ideally be reserved for the Father. Prayer is actually nothing more than the impulses of the heart being expressed in communicative form with intent. Jesus hears our prayers because he is one with the Father, and feels all things just as the Father does.
Appendum: The scripture is replete with many hints and clues about spiritual reality. However, the logical and mental structure of our brains were undeveloped before and during last 200 years. In modern times, however, we now have a much greater capacity to connect directly with God AND understand God's reality logically and with the intellect he gave us.
Recall that Jesus had a consultation with the spirits of Moses and Elijah on the Mt Transfiguration. Recall that during the 40 day resurrection period following Jesus' rise from the dead, many of the people of Jerusalem witness the presence of the saints of the old testament (we see that in acts) (because their spiritual senses were momentarily opened and activated by the presence of Christ's own resurrection.)
"The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God's people) who had fallen asleep [in death] were raised [to life]; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people."
The 'tombs' is symbolic language expressing the darker realms of the spirit world where the saints of the old testament resided. Christ's resurrection opened up a whole new realm of the spirit world, which is what scripture calls "paradise". A realm in the spirit where Satan has no jurisdiction, where Christ is the center, and where we move spiritually when we embrace Jesus, and believe in him.
If you read this far, congratulations! Might be a lot to take in, but I recommend (or suggest) that if you are interested, pray about this, and ask Heavenly Father if what I've written here is true, or how much is true. Ultimately, God is the one who reveals truth. But also each of us has a spirit, and this is why 'understanding' is so subjective. The challenge is to refine our understanding, through scripture study and prayer, so that it aligns more and more with God's understanding. That's the challenge and the path of true faith, imo.
Hmmmm....
I like the question, and I'd like to share my thoughts.
Firstly, how one answers this question will hinge of what one understands (or misunderstands) about the spiritual real, aka the spirit world, aka the aspect of the universe that complements the material world, as the cause to effect.
The human being (God's creation) is a microcosm. We have both spirit and flesh. The flesh is like the soil in which our spirit grows. In God's design, once the spirit reaches maturity, the earthy flesh is discarded, and the spirit lives on eternally in God's presence. Where? In the spiritual realm, the spirit world, aka often referred to as "Heaven", as in, Our Father, who are in heaven, .... thy kingdom come, on earth as in heaven."
The spiritual realm is real, alive, but because of SIN, our human capacity to sense, understand and consciously interact with that realm and all who live in it (all past souls, angels, and God who resides at the very center and apex of the spiritual dimension) was severely crippled.
Prayer is nothing more than the spiritual reaching out, and when we dedicate that prayer to the Father, or to Christ, or anyone else, it establishes a connection that is primarily directed by our intention.
This is why black magic and such evil practices also work: the intention is to connect and communicate with evil and the forces of evil, etc, that also reside in the spirit world.
So, when you pray to God, God hears you, not simply because he is omniscient, although he is, but because you are reaching out and connecting in spirit with your intent. God can sense our thoughts, feelings and everything inside us whether we intend it or not. But the effectiveness of prayer is connected to our intent. ("If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move". This teaching from Jesus shows us directly that our INTENT is a factor. Faith is belief + intent. Prayer is far more powerful when you believe that it will be answered.)
Angels are spiritual beings, and the higher level angels can certain interact with us spiritually, and often do even if we are not aware of them. So, they also can "hear" our thoughts, sense our feelings, and respond to, for example, a "prayer".
While his omniscience allows our Father to perceive and sense ALL that we are, and all that we experience, he created the spiritual realm as our eternal home, and if your spiritual senses are awake, you can sense many things. The main problem is that sin has crippled most people's ability to sense (via their spiritual senses) the spiritual dimension.
An active prayer life will stimulate and enhance your spiritual senses in most cases. This is why in deep profound prayer, one can receive revelation, inspiration, and sense deeper truths. Because our spirit self is designed and created by God's word, the Truth elicited a resonance from our spirit and we respond.
But many hear the truth and do not respond, or respond on all sorts of different levels. A saint hears the truth and is profoundly transformed into embodying God's love and living for the sake of all humanity. someone mired in sin can hear the truth and feel no connection at all. God's grace is a critical factor here, as it is through the power of God's grace that our spirits are 'pricked' and activated to feel and respond to the truth.
And when we live the truth, our spirit grows.
Two thousand years ago, Christ came to humanity and taught fundamental truths, and yet, Christ also stated very clearly, that he had many things to share (even 'heavenly things') but that his disciples and the people of the time were not able to receive aka 'understand' them. Paul also indicates that he (and 'we', the Christians of his time) saw (i.e. understood) only dimly as in a mirror but THEN (aka sometime in the future) he (we) would understand even as we are understood. Who understands us? God and Christ.
Two thousand years ago, humanity had almost no understanding of material laws of nature, how the material universe works, its structure and composition, etc. So also, their capacity to grasp the nature of the spiritual reality - its structure, how it works, what laws rule it, how the spirit exists and functions, etc - was unfortunately very small.
This is another reason why Christ must return - to bring us in to that state where we understand as we are understood. Ignorance of spiritual reality is a very big burden for humanity, and its a key reason why evil (including atheistic communism) tries every and all methods to get people to focus exclusively on the material ("God does not exist") or get so caught up in material life that their spiritual sense is always buried under a ton of distractions, preoccupations, and misunderstandings.
Another reason to pray, and pray more. Prayer helps to open our connection with God (it's actually a two-way street, God is always there and waiting, but we have to also make an effort), but it also activates and utilizes our spiritual capacity, thereby helping it to grow.
in conclusion, in my understanding, Archangels and even many other angels, not to mention those who reside in the spirit realm, can and do interact with us and yes, sense or feel our thoughts and feelings. Just like two people who are very close can sense what the other is feeling, often.
I think it is fine to be aware of angels etc, but prayer is something that should ideally be reserved for the Father. Prayer is actually nothing more than the impulses of the heart being expressed in communicative form with intent. Jesus hears our prayers because he is one with the Father, and feels all things just as the Father does.
(The scripture is replete with many hints and clues about spiritual reality. However, the logical and mental structure of our brains were undeveloped before and during last 200 years. In modern times, however, we now have a much greater capacity to connect directly with God AND understand God's reality logically and with the intellect he gave us.
Recall that Jesus had a consultation with the spirits of Moses and Elijah on the Mt Transfiguration. Recall that during the 40 day resurrection period following Jesus' rise from the dead, many of the people of Jerusalem witness the presence of the saints of the old testament (we see that in acts) (because their spiritual senses were momentarily opened and activated by the presence of Christ's own resurrection.)
"The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God's people) who had fallen asleep [in death] were raised [to life]; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people."
The 'tombs' is symbolic language expressing the darker realms of the spirit world where the saints of the old testament resided. Christ's resurrection opened up a whole new realm of the spirit world, which is what scripture calls "paradise". A realm in the spirit where Satan has no jurisdiction, where Christ is the center, and where we move spiritually when we embrace Jesus, and believe in him.
If you read this far, congratulations. Might be a lot to take in, but I recommend that you pray about this, and ask Heavenly Father if what I've written here is true, or how much is true. Ultimately, God is the one who reveals truth. But also each of us has a spirit, and this is why 'understanding' is so subjective. The challenge is to refine our understanding, through scripture study and prayer, so that it aligns more and more with God's understanding. That's the challenge and the path of true faith, imo.