WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE PRAY WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS?
QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER
NATURE OF GOD
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked: but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
What happens when an evil or wicked person prays? What about a non-Christian who is still a pretty good person? These are difficult questions because if we’re not careful, we can assume that God only cares about Christians who have been adopted as children of God. But the truth is that God loves and cares for everyone, and he hears and listens to the cries and prayers of everyone who genuinely seek him. If God only heard the prayers of Christians, then how would people get saved? The obvious answer is that God is sovereign and hears all prayers. His response to those prayers will be determined by a number of things that God understands, but we don’t.
It can be easy to read a verse like the one above and determine that God doesn’t hear the prayer of an unrighteous person and that all non-Christians are separated from God, evil and wicked, and God is far from them. But the truth is that without Jesus, we are all separated from God and doomed to our sin. So what does the above verse mean? This verse is about proximity. God hears the prayers of the righteous because they are close to him. Not only that, but the righteous hear when God speaks, even in whispers, because they are close to him. But God is far from the wicked, and they are wicked because they have turned their backs on him. It’s not that God couldn’t hear the prayers of the wicked or even those lukewarm if they were to call out. The point is that God has given special attention and focus to those who are his children. Wicked is not referring to those who are ignorant of the truth, wicked is those who know the truth, yet have chosen to oppose it.
A person may look at this verse and say; what does it matter if a righteous person prays? They are already righteous and close to God. God already knows what they want and all the details of that, so why is prayer necessary at all? Below are five things prayer does that should remind us to keep praying. These are also things that can happen in the life of a non-Christian and can work to actually draw them closer to God and a place of salvation.
1. Prayer deepens our dependency on God, but also reveals our role in seeing prayers answered. Did you know that God can use you to answer prayers? God may use you to be the answer to someone else’s prayer or even your own. As we pray, God may help us to become aware, or bring to our minds how we can be used to answer our own prayer or the prayer of another. God uses both Christians and non-Christians in this answering of prayer.
2. Prayer forces us to wait on God and not trust in our own limited strength. God has three answers to prayers: Yes, no, and wait. Often, it is the waiting that is the most difficult for us to accept in our flesh. Instead of getting frustrated that God is not on our schedule, prayer forces us to be on God’s timetable and look to him.
3. Prayer opens our eyes to the spiritual realm. As humans, we tend to think of everything in a physical sense. But when we pray, God opens our eyes to the spiritual (which is much more important). Prayer opens our eyes, enabling us to see what God is doing and to see things we are blinded to without prayer. This also can happen to those who are not yet Christians, but these experiences lead them to a place of salvation.
4. Prayer aligns our heart with God’s heart. Not only are we making our requests known to God, but as we listen, God changes our heart. His desires become our desires, his plans become our plans. His thoughts are ours, we are aligned to his will and if we are not yet saved, prayer can bring people to that place of making a decision.
5. Prayer enables us to lift our heads and move forward with confidence. Prayer prepares a way so that people can take the next step. Through prayer, people have clarity about where to go, and what to do, and can step with confidence into what God is leading them to.
It can be easy to read a verse like the one above and determine that God doesn’t hear the prayer of an unrighteous person and that all non-Christians are separated from God, evil and wicked, and God is far from them. But the truth is that without Jesus, we are all separated from God and doomed to our sin. So what does the above verse mean? This verse is about proximity. God hears the prayers of the righteous because they are close to him. Not only that, but the righteous hear when God speaks, even in whispers, because they are close to him. But God is far from the wicked, and they are wicked because they have turned their backs on him. It’s not that God couldn’t hear the prayers of the wicked or even those lukewarm if they were to call out. The point is that God has given special attention and focus to those who are his children. Wicked is not referring to those who are ignorant of the truth, wicked is those who know the truth, yet have chosen to oppose it.
A person may look at this verse and say; what does it matter if a righteous person prays? They are already righteous and close to God. God already knows what they want and all the details of that, so why is prayer necessary at all? Below are five things prayer does that should remind us to keep praying. These are also things that can happen in the life of a non-Christian and can work to actually draw them closer to God and a place of salvation.
1. Prayer deepens our dependency on God, but also reveals our role in seeing prayers answered. Did you know that God can use you to answer prayers? God may use you to be the answer to someone else’s prayer or even your own. As we pray, God may help us to become aware, or bring to our minds how we can be used to answer our own prayer or the prayer of another. God uses both Christians and non-Christians in this answering of prayer.
2. Prayer forces us to wait on God and not trust in our own limited strength. God has three answers to prayers: Yes, no, and wait. Often, it is the waiting that is the most difficult for us to accept in our flesh. Instead of getting frustrated that God is not on our schedule, prayer forces us to be on God’s timetable and look to him.
3. Prayer opens our eyes to the spiritual realm. As humans, we tend to think of everything in a physical sense. But when we pray, God opens our eyes to the spiritual (which is much more important). Prayer opens our eyes, enabling us to see what God is doing and to see things we are blinded to without prayer. This also can happen to those who are not yet Christians, but these experiences lead them to a place of salvation.
4. Prayer aligns our heart with God’s heart. Not only are we making our requests known to God, but as we listen, God changes our heart. His desires become our desires, his plans become our plans. His thoughts are ours, we are aligned to his will and if we are not yet saved, prayer can bring people to that place of making a decision.
5. Prayer enables us to lift our heads and move forward with confidence. Prayer prepares a way so that people can take the next step. Through prayer, people have clarity about where to go, and what to do, and can step with confidence into what God is leading them to.