"Does God Hear the Prayers of Unbelievers?" 6-27-21

Overview

Does God Hear the Prayers of Unbelievers?

Before answering, we have to know who God is. Psalm 139:1-4 shows a God who searches us and knows us completely—our sitting down and rising up, our paths, even the words on our tongues before we speak them. Unlike us, who judge by appearances 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord looks on the heart and understands our intentions better than we understand them ourselves. He is not far off; as Paul writes in Ephesians 4:6, He is "above all and through all and in all," and as the Lord declares in Jeremiah 23:24, no one can hide in secret places where He cannot see. These verses confess what theologians call the "omnis" of God: He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Nothing escapes His knowing, His presence, or His power—and that should produce in us a reverent fear of the Lord.

This reframes our question. God hears every word and knows every intention, believer or not. In Matthew 5:45, Jesus reminds us that the Father makes His sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. He is intimately interested in every part of His creation, whether or not creation acknowledges Him. But strictly speaking, a true atheist or agnostic—someone who rejects God's existence outright—is not praying to anyone at all. So the better question is: can one pray in unbelief?

Yes. The father of the demon-possessed boy cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!" Mark 9:24, and Jesus did not demand that he prove his faith first—He simply healed the boy. Jesus' own disciples were repeatedly called "you of little faith," yet He never turned them away. Even a mustard seed of faith Matthew 17:20 is faith. And when our prayers falter altogether, Romans 8:26 assures us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness, interceding "with sighs too deep for words." Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord—whether strong or struggling—is heard and answered. The only sin that finally shuts a person off from God is the persistent, hardened rejection of the Holy Spirit Himself.

Pastoral application: If you find yourself praying at all, even haltingly, even with doubts, you are not an unbeliever; God in His mercy is already drawing you. Don't measure your prayers by the strength of your faith but by the steadfast love of the One who hears them. Keep praying for that wandering family member, that resistant friend, that elderly loved one who says they don't believe. This side of heaven, it is never too late, our prayers are never wasted, and our Lord—who has already proven His love at the cross—will not turn away anyone who calls on His name.

Transcript

If you would please open your Bibles to Psalm 139, we're going to be studying Psalm 139. 2s

So in this Q&A series of taking questions to Scripture and seeing what God's Word has to 14s

say and using Scripture to answer these various questions that we have. 24s

The question we have or that we are answering, in Scripture this week is does God hear 30s

the prayers of unbelievers? 37s

Does God hear the prayers of unbelievers? 40s

Now that's a pretty, pretty loaded question. 44s

So we're going to actually set it to the side to begin with and we're going to unpack this. 47s

Before we can really look at that question, we have to do some background work. 53s

And so in order to do that, we are going to use Psalm 139. 60s

So just right from the start, David writes, oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. 65s

So this is David proclaiming that God knows him completely. 73s

And God knows David exactly how he is and exactly who David is. 80s

You know, as men and women, as humans, we want to know each other, we want to understand. 90s

We seek understanding of our brothers and sisters, but we really don't know. 97s

And honestly, we can't know one another to the depths and in the breadth that the Lord 103s

knows us. 111s

In first Samuel, the 16th chapter, it's written that the Lord does not see as mortals 112s

see. 118s

They look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. 119s

We seek understanding and we seek knowledge by what we can see, by what our senses 124s

tell us, but the Lord knows he pierces the inner most being and he understands all. 133s

David continued in verse 2, you know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my 145s

thoughts from far away. 152s

Nothing is hidden from God. 155s

Nothing is hidden from the Lord. 158s

He knows our every single action. 160s

We get so caught up and engrossed in the daily activity and the ins and outs of our lives 164s

that we can tend to forget one another or we can tend to forget God. 171s

And we forget that God is present in every single moment. 178s

And when David writes that God knows when he sits and when he rises, that's really 183s

an all-encompassing reference that David is making here that God knows every posture, 189s

every motion, every action, every inaction. 197s

He knows everything of David. 200s

And he knows every movement and every thought and every moment in time and not only does 205s

we know that on the outward but he knows that to the very core of our being. 213s

He knows the very intention behind all we say and do or behind all we don't say or 219s

don't do. 229s

One theologian pointed out that this is a very striking contrast that is made between God 231s

and ourselves. 237s

And you think about that. 238s

And how many times have when considering our intentions, how many times have we walked 240s

away from an encounter or a conversation kind of muttering to ourselves saying, what was 245s

I thinking or what was I doing? 253s

What was going on in my brain to make me do or say that? 256s

We so often have absolutely no idea of our intentions but God. 261s

He knows and not only does he know our intentions but he understands them. 269s

He knows exactly and understands from where our heart is coming and he understands 277s

ourselves. 286s

He understands our motivations and our intentions better than we ourselves know them. 286s

God knows you more intimately than you know yourself. 294s

You discern my thoughts from far away. 303s

Now David is not making a reference to God being a distant God that would not 307s

drive even within this one verse. 313s

If God knows us more intimately than we know ourselves, then he can't be a far off or a distant 317s

God. 327s

He is in heaven but he is present always in our lives and he is always concerned with 328s

every aspect of our life. 337s

And the aspect of all creation and Ephesians 4 Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 340s

wrote that God is above all and through all and in all. 346s

He is not a distant God who is a luke or uninterested in his creation but he enters 354s

into creation and he encounters creation and engages with those in his creation. 363s

David continued in verse 3. 373s

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 375s

God not only knows us better than we do. 383s

He also seeks us out. 386s

We won't go finding him. 391s

We won't go seeking him but he continually seeks us out and he comes to us in our sinful 393s

desires and in our flesh we will venture off the path of righteousness but God doesn't 402s

walk away from us. 411s

He doesn't forget us but he continues to search us out and seek us out. 413s

Jesus told that parable of the shepherd who has a flock of 100 and leaves the 99 to search 419s

for the one who had wandered away. 429s

God seeks out the sinner and we are all born into sin. 433s

We are all born into the desires of the flesh. 440s

And so we wander off the path of righteousness and God seeks us out and draws us back 445s

in. 453s

Causes back in. 453s

He continues to search out our path. 456s

I love verse 23 of this same Psalm that we are reading. 461s

The 139th Psalm. 466s

We are David wrote, search me, oh God and know my heart. 468s

God searches us. 472s

He searches our hearts and he knows our hearts. 474s

And we cannot hide our inner most being from him. 479s

We can try but we get nowhere. 486s

We cannot hide from God. 490s

In verse 4 David wrote, even before a word is on my tongue, oh Lord, you know it completely. 494s

It doesn't matter what word is upon our lips. 501s

The Lord knows it. 506s

And the Lord knows it fully. 510s

He knows the intention. 513s

He knows the emotion. 514s

He knows the rationale. 516s

He knows our thoughts. 519s

He knows our words and he knows it completely. 521s

He knows each and every one of us wholly and completely as we exist in every moment of our 526s

lives. 539s

It doesn't matter where we are. 541s

God knows. 544s

In Jeremiah 23 chapter, it's written who can hide in secret places so that I cannot 546s

see them says the Lord. 551s

Do I not fill heaven and earth says the Lord? 553s

God fills all and is in all and knows all and sees all and hears all. 559s

So really these four verses of Psalm 139, it really can be summed up in what I like to refer 567s

to as the omnis of God. 577s

That God is omniscient. 580s

He knows all. 582s

He's aware of the past. 583s

The present, the future, nothing at all takes him by surprise. 585s

And his knowledge is total and complete. 590s

He knows all that there is to know and all that there will be to know. 594s

He knows it all. 599s

God is omnipresent. 601s

That means that he is everywhere. 603s

He is everywhere at the same time and his divine presence encompasses the 606s

entirety of the universe. 612s

There is absolutely no location that God does not inhabit. 614s

And God is omnipotent. 622s

He is all powerful. 624s

He's not subject to physical limitations as you and I are. 626s

His power is limitless. 632s

He has power over all of the elements. 635s

The wind and the sea and the air and fire and physics and chemistry. 637s

He is all powerful over everything. 645s

When we consider God in these omnis, his omniscience, omnipotent, it can be scary. 650s

It can be overwhelming and it brings about a very righteous and reverent fear of the Lord. 663s

We can appreciate and we can stand in awe and we can stand reverently fearful of the Lord. 675s

What does that have anything to do with our question? 684s

And does the Lord hear the prayers of unbelievers? 688s

Well, God hears every word. 695s

God knows every intention. 699s

He knows all and it doesn't matter if one is a believer or not, God knows it. 702s

And God is sovereign over it. 710s

In Matthew 5th chapter, Jesus said that God makes his son rise on the evil and on the good. 715s

And sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 723s

God doesn't only pay attention to those who acknowledge him. 728s

He is intimately interested in all of his creation, whether or not creation is interested in him. 732s

And this brings us to the unbeliever, to the unbeliever. 745s

If one is truly an atheist or truly an agnostic, if one is in a most literal sense, an unbeliever, 755s

then is he or she praying to God? 770s

Prayer or praying is conversing with God. 777s

And if one rejects God, then he or she is not praying to anyone. 783s

Here she is not praying, period. 793s

If I speak to myself, God hears my utterances. 799s

Before the atheist has a thought, God knows his or her thought. 803s

And he hears the words upon every lip. 809s

And he knows the desires, the thoughts, the intentions, the motivations in every single 812s

heart. 824s

So the question does God hear the prayers of unbelievers. 826s

It's actually not a very good question. 831s

Is it? 834s

Let's instead ask the question, can one pray in unbelief? 836s

Now the atheist, the agnostic, the one who rejects the existence 845s

of God does not believe and will not speak to God. 852s

Will not be praying to God. 861s

The one who is praying, the one who prays in doubt, 864s

the one who prays in weakness, the one who prays is still praying. 872s

There is a smidgen, a smidgen of faith there. 883s

When Jesus comes across a man who's son is possessed by a demon and under torment, 895s

and this man asks for healing of his son. 904s

He says, I believe, and immediately afterwards follows it up with help, 909s

my unbelief. 918s

And Jesus healed that boy. 921s

Jesus so often remarks to his own disciples who are with him, participating in and witnessing 925s

miracles and the ministry of Jesus, and he so often remarks to his disciples. 935s

You of little faith, or if only you had the faith of a mustard seed, 945s

and he is constantly remarking of their little faith, but he didn't turn them away. 953s

He didn't reject them, he didn't ignore them. 961s

He continued to engage with them, he continued to heal. 967s

He continued to teach, he continued to bless and to save those who cried out to him. 972s

He met them exactly where they were and the same continues today. 981s

Anyone who utteres a prayer to the Lord in strength of faith or weak of faith, 993s

anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, 1001s

Jesus will hear and Jesus will answer and quite honestly aren't we all like that father. 1006s

I believe help me in my unbelief. 1016s

Does God hear the prayers of those who struggle in belief, 1022s

who those who struggle in weak faith? 1030s

In Romans Paul wrote that the Spirit helps us in our weakness, 1039s

for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes with size to deep for words. 1044s

God knows our human condition, God knows our sinful tendencies, our sinful nature that we were born into, 1055s

and God has mercy on us. 1069s

And he intercedes even in our very prayers, he knows our hearts, he knows our 1075s

longings, he knows his will for our lives, he knows his will for you, and his will for you is life in him. 1084s

He sent his son to die on the cross so that we may have life in him. 1101s

He didn't make sure that we would be strong in faith before he died. 1113s

He didn't make sure that we would believe enough before we could speak to him. 1122s

Before we were here walking this earth, Jesus Christ had already planned to engage and enter into creation 1131s

in order to strengthen our faith in order to give us redemption in order to engage with us 1151s

on a daily basis through his blood, through his righteousness. God is steadfast in his love and 1165s

mercy, and when we're bogged down and in doubt or we're weak in our faith, God is not. 1176s

God is steadfast, he remains faithful, and his mercy will always outweigh our weaknesses. 1187s

We have determined that God hears all, he knows all, he meets us exactly where we are, he searches us out 1201s

and comes to us and calls us from wherever we are in faith. When that man with the demon possessed 1213s

child cried out, I believe, help my unbelief, Jesus did not make him take a test or prove 1223s

that he would be faithful enough. He helped within the weakness of that father's faith. 1233s

God makes himself known over and over and over again. He makes himself known through his word, 1244s

he makes himself known through his sacraments, he searches and seeks us out and he searches 1254s

our hearts and he calls us to him, self and those who consistently reject him and those who 1263s

turn him away and reject his grace, they do finally shut out the Holy Spirit entirely. 1280s

That is the only unforgivable sin. So the question of whether or not God hears the prayers of unbeliever 1295s

is really a non-question because a true unbeliever, a true atheist, a true agnostic, 1310s

they wouldn't be praying. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, anyone who 1321s

orders a prayer, though it may be in the weakest of faith. Anyone who calls out to the Lord is heard 1328s

and answered. And the beauty is that this side of heaven, it is never too late. This side of heaven, 1340s

we are always sought out and always invited to cry out to the Lord, 1356s

always invited to turn to him, always invited to pray, conversing with our Lord and Savior. 1366s

I have a family member who time and time again rejected, rejected, rejected, 1376s

didn't believe, didn't want to believe, refused to believe in God, the Father, the Son, 1392s

and the Holy Spirit. And I would pray for this family member, but it was difficult. 1403s

In my own weakness, I didn't understand how these prayers would do anything. 1413s

I didn't trust in the power and the strength and the mercy and the steadfast love of the Lord. 1426s

And yet a couple years ago, this same family member who had rejected over and over and over again, 1436s

out of the blue turned to me and said, even though I don't believe it, you can pray for me. 1443s

And I thought to myself, the Holy Spirit is working here and I have prayed for that family member, 1451s

and conversations have been opened. And this is an elderly family member, but I know this side of heaven, 1464s

our prayers are never wasted. This side of heaven, our utterances to the Lord, 1474s

are never unheard, and they will not go unanswered. And it doesn't rely on our faith. 1482s

It doesn't rely on our strength. It is all dependent upon the Lord who has proven himself. 1493s

Showing himself and proclaimed himself to be full of love, of mercy, and of justice. 1504s

So does God hear the prayers of an unbeliever. 1519s

My brothers and sisters, if you are praying to the God who is all knowing, 1527s

all powerful, ever present, you are not an unbeliever. God has called you in His mercy 1536s

and through grace to receive the righteousness that He has won for you and declared for you. 1550s

And He has called you to receive the faith that He has blessed you with in His mercy. 1561s

And as His faithful witnesses, we are called to keep that word of promise, of hope, and of life. 1569s

Upon our lips today and forevermore. Amen. 1579s