RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-09	Does God Hear The Prayers of Unbelievers?
		First of all, God hears everything. He hears the sounds of electrons moving around the nucleus of every atom. He hears every thought before we think it. So the question is, does God hear the prayers of unbelievers with a view of answering them? Those who are parents may remember our child saying, “Dad, give me a drink of water!” You would reply saying, “I can't hear you.” The child would say the same thing even louder, “Dad, give me a drink of water!” You would say again to them, “I can't hear you.” Then the child would say, “please, may I have a drink of water?” And you would say, “yes”, and hand them the drink. You certainly could hear your child ask, but you did not hear with a view of answering until they asked properly. The Bible gives us no indication that God will ever hear our prayers unless we come through Jesus (Jn.14:6). Joh 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. This refers to both relationship as well as prayer. Yes, God hears the unbeliever, but He does not hear with a view of answering. Heb 10:19  Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, Heb 10:20  by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, Heb 10:21  and having a High Priest over the house of God, Heb 10:22  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. We draw near to the throne of God only through the blood of Jesus. The only basis we have for God ever hearing any of our prayers is if we come in Jesus' name. And “In Jesus' name” is not just a tag name we add at the end of a prayer. It means we come in His righteousness. Even as believers we never really deserve to be heard. And the Bible does give us conditions to having prayers answered. We come on the basis of who we are in Him. That is, as children of God. We cannot give any assurance to an unbeliever that God will answer their prayers. Pro 15:8  The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. The sacrifices of an unbeliever, which would have included prayers, are an abomination to the Lord. This is strong language for sure. But the prayers of the upright (believer or child of God) is His delight. So for the unbeliever to bring sacrifices and prayers without a relationship with the Lord is an abomination. It is an abomination even though they were outwardly doing the right thing because they were coming on the basis of their own righteousness. So let's say an unbeliever had a loved one who was very sick, and they prayed for their healing. Even though they come with great sincerity, they are still coming based on their own righteousness, so it is an offense to God. They are praying believing they have earned the right to a hearing with God and are very sincere. For anyone to presume they can come in their own righteousness is a Gospel issue because it implies, “I don't need Jesus”. They think God sending His Son is not needed in their case. Can you imagine any greater offense to God? There are unbelievers who assert that God answered their prayers. Their child was dying and the doctor said there was no hope. They prayed and God healed their child. Biblically, the better way to understand this that God heard the prayers of Christians praying for that child. Or in the providence of God, healing the child was what God was going to do anyway. So their prayers had no impact on that situation. We cannot offer assurance to an unbeliever that God will answer their prayers, except that they come to Jesus for salvation, and become a child of God. Remember in Acts 10:1-8 where Cornelius, an unbeliever, prayed and God sent Peter who preached the Gospel and Cornelius was saved. Notice that when the angel came to Cornelius in a vision, the angel said, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God” (Ac.10:4). It does not say God has answered his prayer, it says his prayers have come up for a memorial before God. This is very unusual. The point is that God sent Peter to preach the Gospel to Cornelius. That is what the unbeliever needs to hear. So in summary, God hears everything, but we cannot give assurance to an unbeliever that God will hear their prayers outside of Jesus Christ. But our God is good in that He welcomes the prayers of anyone who will come to Him through Jesus. And He promises to hear from His children. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

23304 E Wellesley Ave. Otis Orchards, WA 99027 Church Office: 509.926.9552 Church Cell: 509.342.9145 Pastor Cell: 509.828.8843 tomelseroad@gmail.com