Does God hear the prayers of sinners?

Does God hear the prayer of a sinner who has not put his trust in Christ, or is He only able to hear the prayers and supplications of those who are saved by Christ?

In answering this question it is important that you do not allow your emotions to cloud your judgment, for this question carries many emotional connotations. For from this question, many specific questions can be asked such as, were the prayers of those in Autswitch heard by God or, where the prayers of those unsaved in 9/11 heard? Such questions are endless and divert the focus of the question from the infallible truth of God to our own fallible emotions. 

With regards to such questions it is important to understand two things:

1.        In terrible events where people have suffered and died, it seems unconscionable to our way of thinking that some of those people who died in grave circumstances would be apart from God or that God would not have heard their prayers because they had not put their trust in Christ. However, what we must remember is that we do not go to hell because we have not put our trust in Jesus; we go to hell because we are sinners who have broken the law and are deserving of punishment in accordance with the notions of justice. We go to hell because we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and as God is a perfect God it is impossible for something imperfect to be in the presence of something perfect.

           Further, just because somebody may die in grave and terrible circumstances does not change the truth that we are sinners and cannot be saved in our own strength. Only through Jesus can we be saved, for He was the only one who is sufficient to take the punishment that we deserve upon Himself. (“You cannot come to the Father, except through me.” John 14:6) Thinking that those who died in the gas chambers in Autswitch are more likely to be able to enter heaven than a person who died peacefully in their sleep is incorrect; because that is thinking that we can earn our way to heaven through suffering. However we know that as we are not perfect, no amount of suffering on our part can change our standing with God. If we are not perfect, then suffering can not ever make us perfect. Only the death of Christ was sufficient, because He was perfect, therefore He was able to take our punishment upon His shoulders. Suffering exists as a result of sin, but pain and suffering does not alter the truth of God and our need for a Saviour.

2. God is a merciful and faithful God and we can have absolute faith in the fact that those who call upon Him according to His terms will be saved. Undoubtedly God hears the prayers of a person who humbly calls on Him. Of course this is correct, because at one time we were all without Christ, just like the thief on the cross who called out to Jesus and Jesus answered Him saying “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43). God heard us call upon His name whilst we were still sinners and answered our prayer.

     1 John 1:9 states, “9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

     Romans 10:9-10 states, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

     Acts 2:21 states, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

     Romans 10:13 again states, “13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

If we come to him in prayer according to His terms we can be sure that He will both hear and answer our prayers. We must also remember that God is a just God and His precepts are right and good.

With that in mind, let us consider the answer to the question, does God hear the prayers of sinners, or more specifically, does He hear the prayers of those who are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ?

Looking to our ultimate source the Word of God it can be reasonably determined that God cannot hear the prayers of those who are unsaved, (beyond those prayers that are genuine prayers of repentance and calling upon Him).

These prayers that He does not hear are from those who have no desire to seek God or wish to acknowledge Him, yet pray to Him, maybe in a ritualistic way or when times are hard or they need something. Quoting Isaiah 29:3, Matthew 15:8 states, “‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.”

The gospel tells us that we are sinful and that our sin separates us from God. It is impossible for God to be in the presence of sin and only through Christ who came to earth in the likeness of man; weak to all the things that we are weak to, yet able to remain strong; can we be reconciled to God. Without Christ that gulf exists and cuts us off from God the Father.

Isaiah 59:1-2 states, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.”

It is not that God can literally not hear the prayers, for God is the creator of all things. But rather, our sins and wickedness have cut us off from God so that He will not hear us. As stated, it is not possible to be in the presence of perfection because we are not perfect, therefore as it says in verse 2, our sins have hidden His face from us.

Only through putting our trust in Christ can the airwaves between us and God be reopened so that God may hear our prayers, because through Christ we have a perfect mediator that allows us to be reconciled to God the Father.

If God cannot hear the prayers of those without Christ why can he hear the prayers of those with Christ?

The answer lies in Romans 8. Romans 8 speaks of the consequence of putting our trust in Christ Jesus. Verse 1 starts, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

Verse 14 tells us that those of us who have received Christ in our Spirit have been reconciled to God, adopted into His family: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

What does Romans 8 say about prayer?

Romans 8:26 states, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

This verse is often misinterpreted. Charismatic Christians and those who base their relationship with God on feelings rather than on faith and many others believe that this verse is referring to the Spiritual gift of tongues and the ability to speak in a heavenly language; however this is taking the verse out of context. In context, within Romans 8, a chapter which talks about the effect of putting our trust in Christ, this verse is referring to our prayer life once we have become Christians and are reconciled to God.

A result of becoming a Born Again Christian is that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is promised to us in John 14 and John 16.

John 14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I do away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that the Holy Spirit has been sent to us as a guarantor or evidence for the promise of our coming salvation. For even though by putting our trust in Christ we are saved, we are still sinful beings until the day we die. However, we have a promise through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. Just the same as a will that has been executed promises to provide an inheritance, however it does not take effect until after the testator has died.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

As Christians we are still sinners, however we have been reconciled to God through Christ Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit as a guarantor for our future coming salvation. The Lord Jesus is our perfect mediator who has reconciled us to God through His death and resurrection and the Holy Spirit becomes our intercessor and interpreter, able to translate our sinful prayers into prayers acceptable to God.

It is for this reason that God can hear the prayers of His children, but not the prayers of those who are unsaved. For God to hear your prayers, put your trust in the only way that we have that leads us to God the Father – the Lord Jesus Christ.

-BACChristian