Geni, thanks for writing!
You mentioned being confused. I can relate to that. But I discovered that when I read the same chapters from the Bible every day, I begin to understand after doing that for a few months.
As for whether or not God is listening: He is right there beside you, hanging on every word you say!
Maybe the way in which He is answering your prayers is — at least in part — by send you to this web site so you can read and be refreshed by articles that show how His Word can help you.

The thing to realize is that there is power in the Word of God. His power is practical, beneficial, and life-transforming. You can access that power in your life by speaking His Word in faith as a true believer.
Ask God for understanding. Be patient before Him. He will speak to you through His Word.
I have started a list of Scriptures that reveal the character of God to us. The title is “The Character of God”. Click Here to read it. Read these passages out loud for a few days, and see if you don’t get a sense of what God is really like.

To be honest, I very rarely read my Bible. It’s probably mostly due to laziness and unwillingness to make the necessary sacrifices to mature spiritually. On the other hand, it doesn’t do me much good. In fact, there were a couple of times when reading made me feel worse and left me more confused than I was beforehand.

I learned most of what I know by listening to Bible teachers on the radio. Here is a link to a post I wrote a while back, listing some of my personal favorite teachers:
Read The List Here
ALSO:
You (and others reading this) may not have noticed the Blog Index link in the menu at the top. The index groups together all articles related to a particular topic.

Thank you, thank you for so many options. My goodness ! Somehow I will, By The Very Grace Of God, Understand God’s Word. Bless You !

Years ago, Joanne gave me an RSV (Revised Standard Version) Bible. It’s a study bible, so it has a lot of notes at the bottom to explain what things mean. Lately I’ve been using the ESV (English Standard Bible) because that’s what my pastor uses at Harvest Bible Chapel (Minneapolis MN area). Now I have an iPhone with the Olive Tree Bible app on it. I can link it to a Matthew Henry commentary which allows me to read what a commentary writer says about what these things mean. Also, check out Bible Gateway I use this all the time for keyword searches or to look up a passage and copy/paste it into a post. Eliminates typing errors. There are lots of tools available.

Jay, I’m glad God led you to read this article.
You know, a big part of the Christian life is learning to wait. God’s timing is not the same as our timing. We don’t want to wait for His help, right? But maybe He actually IS helping you, just not in the way you were thinking. We think God should be making things easy for us, so that we can be happy. God’s goal for us is to strengthen us so we can persevere under adversity, so we can be of useful service to Him. I would never have turned to God and spent so much time learning His ways were it not for the adversity that I’ve been in (and still AM in!)
God has given each of us a free will. Our free will includes the freedom to reject Him or to make very little effort learning His ways.
Do you understand: God could not create a world in which we are totally free — yet at the same time guarantee that we would always make the right (read: Godly) choices.