Does God hear the prayers of unbelievers?

[OneLight]

Jesus himself said "He who is not with me, is against me..." (Matthew 12:20, Luke 11:23). What more wicked sin can there be than to deny Christ - to not accept His offer of salvation? And for those that do deny Him, how can they not be wicked?

Romans 8:7 says, "The sinful mind is hostile to God." Indeed, the minds of those who reject Christ are full of sin - no matter how many "good deeds" they do. And as they are "hostile" to God, as the Scripture says, they must then be wicked.

Jesus said of unbelievers in Him, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires." (John 8:44).

All unbelievers in Christ belong to Satan. How can you belong to Satan and not be wicked?

The Bible says the wicked do not seek God...(Psalm 10:4)

Thus, all unbelievers are wicked in God's eyes...

One can not be an unbeliever and in Christ at the same time. Care to explain the statement in maroon?

[wyguy]

Jesus himself said "He who is not with me, is against me..." (Matthew 12:20, Luke 11:23). What more wicked sin can there be than to deny Christ - to not accept His offer of salvation? And for those that do deny Him, how can they not be wicked?

Romans 8:7 says, "The sinful mind is hostile to God." Indeed, the minds of those who reject Christ are full of sin - no matter how many "good deeds" they do. And as they are "hostile" to God, as the Scripture says, they must then be wicked.

Jesus said of unbelievers in Him, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires." (John 8:44).

All unbelievers in Christ belong to Satan. How can you belong to Satan and not be wicked?

The Bible says the wicked do not seek God...(Psalm 10:4)

Thus, all unbelievers are wicked in God's eyes...

One can not be an unbeliever and in Christ at the same time. Care to explain the statement in maroon?

Those who didn't believe in what Christ had to say about himself.

As Acts 4:12 says "Salvation is found in no one else.."

Romans 10:9 says eternal life is "...in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Acts 16:31, "Believe in the Lord Jesus..."

In John 8:4, Jesus says everyone who does not believe that He is the one He claims to be, will indeed die in their sins.

[OneLight]

Jesus himself said "He who is not with me, is against me..." (Matthew 12:20, Luke 11:23). What more wicked sin can there be than to deny Christ - to not accept His offer of salvation? And for those that do deny Him, how can they not be wicked?

Romans 8:7 says, "The sinful mind is hostile to God." Indeed, the minds of those who reject Christ are full of sin - no matter how many "good deeds" they do. And as they are "hostile" to God, as the Scripture says, they must then be wicked.

Jesus said of unbelievers in Him, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires." (John 8:44).

All unbelievers in Christ belong to Satan. How can you belong to Satan and not be wicked?

The Bible says the wicked do not seek God...(Psalm 10:4)

Thus, all unbelievers are wicked in God's eyes...

One can not be an unbeliever and in Christ at the same time. Care to explain the statement in maroon?

Those who didn't believe in what Christ had to say about himself.

As Acts 4:12 says "Salvation is found in no one else.."

Romans 10:9 says eternal life is "...in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Acts 16:31, "Believe in the Lord Jesus..."

In John 8:4, Jesus says everyone who does not believe that He is the one He claims to be, will indeed die in their sins.

Oh, I get it .. You are actually saying (my version) "Jesus said of those who do not believe in Him". That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

[Shiloh62]

I've been rather curious about this. Does God hear any prayers from unbelievers, except the prayer of salvation, as scripture seems to indicate?

"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does His will" (John 9:31)

Any insight into this?

yes

[Guest bornagain92]

Hello....

Some things to consider:

First the blind boy is not quoting scripture, just his beliefs.

Second, my thoughts were drawn immediately to Acts 10 and the incident with Cornelius and Peter. Cornelius had yet to hear about salvation in Christ or receive the Holy Spirit, yet we are told that he was a man "who prayed to God alway", and that those prayers had evidently been heard and come up for a memorial before God.

Thirdly, there is no scriptural 'rule' that says a sinner is not heard by God (we are all sinners anyway), and a righteous person is always heard by God. In fact, at times, God even refused to harken to the righteous (e.g. Jer.7:16)

God bless....

[OneLight]

Who are we to say who God listens to and who He does not? He most likely hears everything, but replies to what He wishes to reply to ...

[wyguy]

In fact, at times, God even refused to harken to the righteous (e.g. Jer.7:16)

True. No amount of prayer can make God do something against His will.

If you could get every single Christian that ever lived praying at once, they could never pray a single person out of hell.

[Smalcald]

We get tied up in knots becuase we are trying to place a specific moment in time on a specific conversion.

The Holy Spirit may be working in an unbeliever for thirty years before he or she fully comes to faith, the prayers may rise and fall over that time and God would hear prayers addressed to God that conform to God.

Also what do we mean by hear? Do we mean aware of but not interested, or do we mean really listen?

God being ominipotent hears the prayers of those who worship this new satanic drug running saint, El Morte, but does He listen when a drug runner prayers for the death of his rival? He hears, but does He listen?

[OneLight]

We get tied up in knots becuase we are trying to place a specific moment in time on a specific conversion.

The Holy Spirit may be working in an unbeliever for thirty years before he or she fully comes to faith, the prayers may rise and fall over that time and God would hear prayers addressed to God that conform to God.

Also what do we mean by hear? Do we mean aware of but not interested, or do we mean really listen?

God being ominipotent hears the prayers of those who worship this new satanic drug running saint, El Morte, but does He listen when a drug runner prayers for the death of his rival? He hears, but does He listen?

... talk about an oxymoron ...

[Smalcald]

We get tied up in knots becuase we are trying to place a specific moment in time on a specific conversion.

The Holy Spirit may be working in an unbeliever for thirty years before he or she fully comes to faith, the prayers may rise and fall over that time and God would hear prayers addressed to God that conform to God.

Also what do we mean by hear? Do we mean aware of but not interested, or do we mean really listen?

God being ominipotent hears the prayers of those who worship this new satanic drug running saint, El Morte, but does He listen when a drug runner prayers for the death of his rival? He hears, but does He listen?

... talk about an oxymoron ...

Yeah NO kidding.

I don't know if you have been following the whole thing or not but it is becoming a real cult in Mexico and in the US. It is called the black saint of death. Of course saint has nothing to do with it as we define saint. It is driving the Catholic Church nuts as they of course want nothing to do with this sort of satan worship, but the thing persists. There are shrines to this "saint" all along the drug running corridors from Mexico into the US. The Mexican government has been tearing them down as fast as they find them, but they keep going back up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Muerte