Articles
Does God Hear the Prayers of Sinners?
We sometimes say, “God does not hear the prayers of sinners,” but before we accept this statement without further clarification examine carefully two different examples. In one, God flatly refused to hear the prayers of sinners; in the other, God graciously answered the prayers of a sinner.
God told wicked Israel, “So when you spread out your hands in prayer I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight…” (Isaiah 1:15-16). Again, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Clearly, God refused to hear the cries for mercy from people who refused to truly repent of their wickedness, and whose prayers contained nothing but empty promises. That is still true today. God does not want prayers, but contrite repentance and submissive obedience.
On the other hand God said to Cornelius, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4), and again, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard” (Acts 10:30). The difference between Israel and Cornelius was the state of their hearts, and thus the real intent of their prayers. Cornelius was a “devout man, one who feared God with all his household” (Acts 10:2); there was no pretending to be righteous before God, no hypocrisy in his heart. He tried his best to please God by obeying Him and serving others. That is why God answered his prayer but not the Israelites’.
From Israel we learn that God does not hear the prayers of those who are unwilling to obey Him or refuse to truly repent of their ways, just as the Psalmist said, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). From Cornelius we learn that God does hear the prayers of those who fear Him and have an obedient spirit. When they lack full knowledge of God’s will—as Cornelius did—God will answer their prayers for further guidance; and as they grow in their understanding of what He expects of them they will, assuming they continue in the fear of the Lord, obediently implement God’s will in their lives. A complete understanding of God’s will is not a prerequisite to Him answering prayer—just an obedient spirit. We must pray for better understanding, but we must also obey when we learn God’s expectations.
What Cornelius’ prayer does not teach us—as some of our religious friends may propose—is that Cornelius’ prayer was the very thing which saved him. It is clear that Cornelius remained in his sins even after God heard his prayer because the angel instructed him to summon Peter to speak “words…by which you will be saved” (Acts 11:14, notice the future tense). Cornelius’ prayer bears absolutely no resemblance to today’s “Sinners’ Prayer.” How could it, when Cornelius did not know of salvation through Jesus (though he certainly had heard of Jesus, Acts 10:37-38) until Peter taught him the gospel? Cornelius was saved only after obeying the command to be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:48) same as everyone else who was converted in Acts. Cornelius’ was a not a saving prayer but a seeking prayer.
Unfortunately, sometimes we are like the Israelites—we want God to answer our prayers without carrying out God’s will in every aspect of our lives (including patiently loving our wives, 1 Peter 3:7). Let us not expect God to listen to us in those times! Other times we might be like Cornelius—we want to do what is right, but we lack some understanding of the whole truth. God will not turn us away in those times. He wants to show us—through His word—what we ought to do, and if we truly fear Him we will seek that knowledge out with the intention of obeying it. One more thing we learn from Cornelius: he could have chosen to be self-assured and satisfied with his righteous deeds, but instead he recognized that he needed to know more of God’s will (Acts 10:33). We must always maintain a teachable spirit, even when we are so sure that what we are doing is right.
“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them” (Psalm 145:18-19).
