WILL GOD HEAR THE SINNERS’ PRAYER

We Truly Appreciate Bro. Freeman for this wonderful essay and response to an intriguing, controversial and puzzling question. For more infromation about Bro. Freeman click on his picture for a bio. To view more essays and lessons by Graylon click on his subject title(s) below.

WILL GOD HEAR THE SINNERS’ PRAYER?

Will God hear and answer an alien sinner’s prayer? Will God hear a sinner through prayer period? The question needs to be asked, for what can the sinner pray – forgiveness? Sonship? Eternal Life? No. These blessings, and all others needed by an alien sinner (one who has never obeyed the gospel), are promised on conditions other than prayer. Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; 10:9,10. Forgiveness is available only in Christ, who is the light, it is mandatory for a person to be in the light, Eph. 1:7; II Tim. 2:10; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3:26,27.

To be “in Christ,” one must have believed and obeyed the Gospel – by repenting, confessing, and have been baptized. Prayer does not put one into Christ. One becomes a member of the family of God, by being “born again.” Jn. 3:3-5. The “new birth” is the equivalent of being saved; and it is obtained by being born of water and the Spirit. Since things equal to the same thing are equal to each other, it follows that to be born of water and the Spirit is to obey the gospel. It is an abomination in God’s sight for one to pray for pardon contrary to His will. Jas. 4:3; Pro. 28:9.

Consider: (1) Every blessing needed by an alien sinner is obtained on specified conditions, not including prayer. In instance, in the scriptures, is an alien sinner instructed to pray for salvation; in no instance is such a sinner promised salvation on the condition of prayer. (2) Saul of Tarsus is the only clear-cut case we have, in the New Testament, of an alien sinner praying for forgiveness; and, when Ananias, a gospel preacher, contacted him by divine direction, he immediately terminated Saul’s effort to obtain salvation in this way, and instructed him in what his duty was: “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16. Note the order: arise and be baptized – have your sins washed away – then call upon the name of the Lord. Those who would have the alien sinner praying to the Lord, would have him doing so prior to his sins being abrogated, forgiven and washed away. Cornelius is not and exception; inasmuch as the gospel had not been offered to Gentiles he was obviously seeking to serve God under an arrangement which was available to those not Jews under the system of patriarchy, Paul addressed this thought in Rom. 2:13-15. (3) Our Lord does not intercede with the Father at the throne of God for alien sinners. “Wherefore also He is able to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Heb. 7:25. To draw to God is to come to Him in humble and unquestioning obedience to His commands. (4) God is not the Father of alien sinners. He is the creator of all men, but He is the Father only of His children; and only those who are in His family are His children. I Tim. 3:14,15. How can an alien sinner lift his eyes heavenward and say, “My Father in heaven . . . ? His father is not in heaven. Jn. 8:44; I. Jn. 3:10.

The man whose eyes the Lord opened, said, “We know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him he heareth.” Jn. 9:31. It is often alleged that this passage has no bearing on the question of whether God hears an alien sinners prayer let alone responds to such, on the grounds that (a) he who uttered these words was not an inspired man; and (b) the remark was made about Jews who were not aliens at that time at all. Though the man was not inspired, he gave utterance to truth which is inspired and often stated in the scriptures. He said, “We know . . .” The truth he uttered was accepted and recognized by all religious teachers of that day. Why? Because it is repeatedly taught in the Old Testament scriptures: “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against then that do evil . . .” Psa. 34:15,16. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” Psa. 66:18. “The Lord is far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous.” Pro. 15:29. “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that it cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Isa. 59:1,2. It is not a question of what God CAN do but rather what God WILL do. God CAN hear the sinner but He WILLS not to because the sinner is not in Christ and has no relationship with God. The blind man’s statement went unchallenged because it was true. The Jews, though not aliens, in the accepted sense of the word, were unwilling to comply with the conditions obligatory upon them and were thus in the position of an alien who prays for salvation instead of rendering obedience to the conditions of salvation.

Then too, the Old Testament sets the standard in that the Tabernacle, with all it’s vessels and articles, stood as a pattern and shadow of the things that were to come, Heb. 9:1-9. The Holy Place was a type of the Lord’s church, it contained the Golden Candlestick, the Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense. The candlestick represents the light which is Christ, the table of shewbread stands for our feasting and fellowship with the Lord and the altar of incense represents prayer. In Ex. 30 the Lord gives Moses instruction for dealing with the Altar of Incense (which stood for prayer) and he tells him that the priest could only offer the sweet smelling perfume upon the altar after he trimmed the lamps of the candlestick Ex. 30:7,8. In other words, he had to first get in the light before he could offer what represented prayer. So too, today, one MUST be in the Light, (In Christ) before he can offer acceptable prayer.

Ananias gave the only proper answer to praying aliens. Acts 22:16