Does God answer prayer? Does HE answer the prayer of a non-believer? One who does not identify as being a follower of Jesus Christ? These are a mind boggling questions which many have asked before including myself and I take this opportunity to finally get the answer through my research and a study of God’s Word.
Prayer is simply talking to God and it covers a large part of the Scriptures, the Holy Bible. Prayer is one of the most important ways that we are able to communicate with God and therefore we need to know how to be able to effectively communicate with Him in the right way. Is there a style of prayer that is not acceptable to Him? Are there some certain kinds of people to whom He will not listen to?
In John 9:31 the man who was born blind after being healed by Christ told the religious leaders that, “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” So here we are told directly that God does not hear sinners but anyone who comes to Him with a honest, sincere, humble heart is accepted before Him. But what of a Biblical example of the evil King of Israel called Ahab who prayed to God and God heard him?
After the injustice and the innocent murder of Naboth by Ahab the prophet Elijah was sent by God to prophesy destruction and doom to Ahab, his family and his lineage. In response to this we are told that Ahab responded to this judgment by seeking God and God heard him:
1 Kings 21:25-29
But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
Well as we can see the reason for God listening to Ahab is because he followed one of the key Biblical principles that please God i.e. humility. By sincerely humbling himself (God knows the thoughts and the intentions of the heart, we cannot fool Him – Psalm 7:9; 44:21; Jeremiah 17:9-10; John 2:23-25; Hebrew 4:12-13) his prayer was acceptable to God and therefore his judgment was postponed to his future generations. In James 4:6 -10 we are told that “God resists the proud but He gives grace to the humble.” We clearly see that God will never answer the prayer of the proud, whether saved or unsaved.
The following is a list of prayers that God will not answer according to the Bible, those (gty.org, 2016):
- Who have personal and selfish motives – James 4:3
- Who do not forgive – Psalm 66:18; Mark 11:25-26
- Who remain in sin –Isaiah 59:1-2; John 9:31
- Who offer unworthy service to God – Malachi 1:7-8
- Who forsake God –Jeremiah 14:10-12
- Who reject God’s call – Proverbs 1:24-25, 28
- Who will not heed God’s law – Zechariah 7:11-13
- Who turn a deaf ear to the cry of the poor – Proverbs 21:13
- Who are violent – Isaiah 1:15; 59:2-3
- Who worship idols – Jeremiah 11:11-14; Ezekiel 8:15-18
- Who have no faith – Mark 11:22-24; Hebrews 11:1-2, 6; James 1:6-7
- Who are living in hypocrisy – Matthew 6:5-15
- Who are proud of heart – James 4:6; I Peter 5:5
- Who are self-righteous – Luke 18:9-14
- Who mistreat God’s people – Psalm 18:40-41; Micah 3:2-4
So, does God answer the prayers of unbelievers? A strict yes or no answer is difficult without qualifying the answer in various ways. However, it is noteworthy that the above mentioned principles represent some of the key characteristics of an unbeliever. Thus we can safely say that, in general, God does not answer the prayers of an unbeliever. God knows the deepest things in our heart, our thoughts, motives and intensions:
Finally, for those who have had an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ the only way they can pray to God is through Jesus Christ, after we become born again and we believe in Him. He is the ONLY way to God – John 14:6. We are told in I Timothy 2:5 that He is the mediator between God and man and that is why when followers of Jesus pray they always finish their prayer in His holy, powerful and precious name. But even if we pray to God with Jesus’ name and we are not walking in God’s commandments we will only be lying to ourselves – John 14:23-24; 15:7; I John 3:22-24.
If you would like to pray and receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord please (from the bottom of your heart) pray this prayer that I have typed below. Pray it only after you are willing to lose All, if need be, to follow Jesus. Whether friends, family, career, what you watch, listen to, where you hang out and even the safety of your own life. Only then, will this prayer do something lasting and eternal for you. You can pray now:
“Oh God, I thank you for this day. Thank you for my life and for this far that you have brought me. I have read your Word and it resonates with me, in fact, it burns in my heart. I know that things are not right in my life and that my relationship with you is not good. I want to have a relationship with you where I can just be able to talk with you (pray) at anytime and anywhere 😍. I repent of all my sins. I ask for forgiveness for all that I have said, done, thought and intended that was sin. I ask you through the blood of your Son Jesus to cleanse me from all my sins, iniquity, unrighteousness and every curse. I believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth died on the cross for my sins, that He rose from the dead after three days and that He is coming back again. Write my name in the Lamb’s book of life and send your Holy Spirit into my life that He would seal me until that day when I will see your holy and beautiful face. I love you Lord, and I thank you for your great love. I am born again.”
If you have prayed that prayer please get a Bible asap and begin reading from the Gospel of John (which has 21 chapters and you can be done in 3 weeks) and then Acts (has 28 chapters hence can be finished in a month) and then Romans. Join a Bible-believing Church where you and enroll for Baptism as soon as possible. You can contact me via my email address: bendavideministries@gmail.com or my phone number: +254774360888. Thank you and Be Blessed 🙂
Ben-David Ministries 