Does God Hear Prayers of Anyone not In Jesus?
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To be “in Jesus” is to be in the body of Christ. To be in the body of Christ is to have one’s sins forgiven because of Christ’s sacrifice. Acts 20:28 says that Christ purchased the church with His own blood. If one is not in the church, then the blood of Christ does not cover his sins. Jesus is the Savior of His body (Ephesians 5:23). To be outside of the body means that one has not had his sins forgiven and has not been saved. In other words, he is still considered an unforgiven sinner by God.
The Bible tells us clearly that God does not hear the prayer of sinners. In Psalm 66:18 we read, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” Proverbs 28:9 states, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.” Peter quotes from Psalm 34:15-16 in 1 Peter 3:12 when he writes, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Someone may ask the question, “Doesn’t God hear the prayer of sinners who want to be saved?” First, God knows all the thoughts of men (Jeremiah 17:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Hebrews 4:13). God wants all men to be saved (2 Peter 3:9) and thus will providentially help the man come to a knowledge of the truth (Acts 17:27). This is not the same as a Christian who may call upon God for forgiveness of sins (1 John 1:9). There is no barrier between the child of God and God, but there is a barrier between the sinner and God.
God does not provide for non-Christians in a special way, but He does in a general way. Jesus said that God sends sunshine on the evil and good, and the rain on the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45). God provides fruitful seasons from which humans gain food and gladness (Acts 14:17). In this general sense, it sometimes appears that God is answering the prayers of specific sinners, but He is not because He is not treating them any differently than He treats anyone else. Even those who don’t pray receive many of these physical blessings. God is the source of all of these blessings, but they are not given in response to the prayers of sinners.
God has also provided for everyone’s salvation by sending Jesus. His death on the cross is a statement to all mankind that if they trust in Jesus for salvation, God will save them. He does not do this in response to any particular person’s prayer, per se, but in response to the great spiritual need that mankind has to be saved from sin. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the whole world in such a way that anyone who decides to believe in Jesus may be saved. Moreover, God does not want anyone to be lost. He wants all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
There are a set of blessings, however, that are reserved for the saints alone. Paul discusses these in Ephesians 1:3. He talks about being blessed with every spiritual blessing that is in Christ. Only those who are in Christ have access to these blessings. Paul lists some of them here in Ephesians 1. They are: being chosen by God, holiness, blamelessness, sonship, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness of sins, inheritance, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. These are not part of God’s general blessing upon mankind. These are reserved only for those who are in Christ. A sinner can pray for these things all day long, and he will not receive them because he is not in Christ.