Question:  Hello Greg!

            Does the Lord hear and/or respond to the prayers of the unsaved at all, no matter how sincerely they may be placed before him, whether in humility and “pure” motive and/or selflessly without regard for personal petition, perhaps only even out of loving concern for the welfare of another in or out of the Lord’s grace?

            This matter seems to have some tremendous implications as to whether or not millions of prayers are indeed heard or not.  What about the countless souls in groups such as AA, NA, OA, SA, Al-Anon, etc., who pray to a “higher power” and not to the Lord as we know him by his formal name or even through his Son?  Among others are the countless prayers in countless homes at mealtime, bedtime, celebrations, etc., who are prayed in the name of the Trinity though perhaps without knowing God?

            In Christ,

            Art

Answer:  Dear Art,

            The short answer is “yes”.  God “hears” the prayers of all, regardless of who they are and what doctrinal formulation they accept or believe.

            Next question.  Does he “answer” (in the way that they desire and ask) the prayers of all those who have not accepted Jesus Christ?  Answer: No.  Sometimes he says yes, sometimes no, sometimes perhaps, sometimes “let me consider that” (not an exact quote of God, of course!!).  What about those who have accepted Jesus Christ – any difference in the answer?  No.

            All of God’s gifts are by grace.  We cannot come to him, approach him, or enter into his presence without Jesus Christ.  Everything that is spiritual, in terms of our relationship with God, must come from God, initially.  He must begin the relationship.  He loves us first, before we might love him (see John 3:16 and I John 4:19 – as well as the larger context).

            God’s love is unconditional.  He does not love us, or hear our prayers, only when we are doing what we should, only when we please him, only when we make him “look good”.  He loves us always – as much today as he ever has or ever will.  We do not increase the ability to have our prayers answered because we do lots of good stuff – for prayers are not dependent upon what we do.

            This is not to say that God necessarily answers the prayers of sinners who are knowingly in their sin, who are habitually sinning in a particular way.  However, we must remember that God is God and he may do what he wants.  He makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).  That may not seem fair to us, but God is God – and we are not (thank God for that!).

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht