Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 12/11/2004

Question
I was told by a relative of mine that her preacher stated that god does not hear a sinner when he/she prays. Is this true or untrue and do you have verses to validate your answer?

Answer
Just to clarify, God hears everything and everybody whether they are praying or cursing. He hears the prayers that people pray to false gods/satan. The prayer issue is really whether He will answer the prayer of a sinner or not.

My guess is that the preacher may have had a passage like this in mine.

Isa 59:1-3
1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. (KJV)

8085  shama' (shaw-mah'); a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):

KJV-- X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear (-ken, tell), X indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim (-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, X surely, tell, understand, whosoever [heareth], witness.

Notice that the audience here is His people who have backslidden and turned from Him not folks who have not known God at all.  James tells us that if we ask for something for the wrong motives God does hear that prayer in that He will not pay attention to it even if we are saved and in fellowship with Him.  In that instance of prayer we have messed up and He will not hear it.

God looks on the heart to see and hear what the heart is up to.  Luke 7:36-50 tells of a prostitute that washed Jesus' feet.  We are not told that she "prayed" for forgiveness, but her act of worship and contrition got her sins forgiven because they were done in faith. In a sense they were a prayer in themselves.

Luke 18 tells us of the Pharisee and the publican.  All the publican prayed was for God to forgive Him a sinner and he was forgiven.  

One could say from these passages that the only prayer that God hears from a sinner is the prayer for salvation.  

However, if a lost person prays for the life of their child will God answer that prayer?  He can if He wants to as it may be the first step towards the Light for that person or what gets them to seek God and get saved or let them see that God is seeking them.  

They may only be praying because their Mother had taught them that Jesus answers prayers and is the only way to Heaven.  Their prayer is in response to that truth and it may be a small or waivering faith that prompts that prayer but mustard seed faith gets us saved so how much faith does it take to get a prayer answered?

If in responding to the light that they have they ask God for something He may answer so that they will take the second step or as a means of granting them more light until they come to the full knowledge of the truth.

I cannot readily think of a person in Scripture but I have heard testimonies of people who prayed for help to find God or for other things and God sent people to their door.  I actually knocked on a door and the person said they had just gotten up off the floor asking God to send them someone who could them how to be saved.  

I am not a pragmatist, but unless God heard the prayer of a lost person these testimonies are either lies or the devil answered their prayer that lead to their salvation.  I can't say that they are all lies but I know that the devil will never do anything to help a person get saved.
 
I don't think we can say dogmatically that God NEVER answers the prayer of a sinner. He is not obligated in any way to do so but we must allow Him His sovereignty and grace.  He can do as He pleases because He is God and the sinner is still His creation and under His authority whether the sinner acknowledges it or not.

Hopefully, this has been of some help.  May God richly bless you as you seek His will and Word.