An unbelieving person clicks “send” on his screen, and submits a prayer request to God. What will you say happens next? Does the email come through into God’s inbox? Does God even see the “unread” email? If God sees the email, does he open it? If he opens it, does he read it? If he reads it, what does he do with it next? Is God aware that the email came from an unbeliever, and therefore he moves it to a different folder? And if he moves it to a different folder, what does he do differently from here? Or is God blind to the spiritual condition of the sender, and treats the prayer request the same way he treats any prayer request coming from a believer? Does God hear the prayer of an unbeliever?
In case you missed what I wrote last week, this is what I am thinking. The matter whether or not God hears the prayer of unbelievers seems inconclusive to me. While I am confident God hears every prayer of every believer, I cannot say one way or another God hears the prayer of the unbeliever. To me, there is not enough information in the Bible for us to know. But before we lay this matter to rest, there is one more thing we must consider. Would you believe me if I were to tell you that in addition to believers and unbelievers, the Bible talks about a third category of individuals? It’s true. This third category of individuals are neither believers nor unbelievers. They are called God-fearers. Arguably, among God-fearers, the most well-known is the Roman centurion named Cornelius in Acts 10.
What do we know about the God-fearers in the 1st century? Cornelius may have been the most famous God-fearer, but I don’t want you to think he was the only God-fearer recorded in the Bible. As you can see, there were others in the Bible.
Acts 13.43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.
Acts 17.4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.
Acts 17.17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.
In my opinion, the individuals mentioned in these verses were possibly God-fearers as well.
Acts 13.50 But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
Acts 16.14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
Acts 18.7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.
Not much is written about the God-fearers in the Bible, or possibly the extrabiblical writings, but this much we know. According to historical sources, God-fearers in the 1st century were Gentiles who did not reject, but rather, who had a sincere interest in the God of Israel. They feared God, thus the name “God-fearer”. Many gave alms, supposedly, to the Jewish people, as did Cornelius. The Bible described Cornelius as a righteous man, who was respected by all the Jewish people. Some God-fearers were converts to Judaism or they came close to be converts to Judaism. If they became complete converts, they tried as much as possible to observe the Law, but remained short of being circumcised. The important thing to remember here is that there appears to be a distinction between Jews and God-fearers. Jews were not God-fearers, and God-fearers were not Jews. At least twice in the Book of Acts, when Paul addressed a crowd, he was careful to separate the two.
Acts 13.16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:
Acts 13.26 “Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.
What is interesting to me about Cornelius’ story is that here was a God-fearer who prayed to God continually, and the Bible said very clearly God heard his prayer. In Acts 10.31, the angel of God said to him, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard.” If I am right, this is the first, and possibly, the only time the Bible says God heard the prayer of an unbeliever. Even though Cornelius was a devout man and he prayed to God regularly, we know he was not yet a believer at the moment when his prayer was answered. How do I know this? Cornelius’ prayer was answered in Acts 10.31. But he and his household did not hear the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from Peter, respond to his message, and receive the Holy Spirit until Acts 10.44.
At the minimum, can we all agree when God heard Cornelius’ prayer, he heard the prayer of an unbeliever? Cornelius prayed a prayer before he heard Peter preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet God answered his prayer. But Cornelius was not your usual unbeliever the way you and I think of an unbeliever. He was a special unbeliever because the Bible says he was a devout man and he and his household feared God. The usual unbeliever is not like that. We don’t want to say too much about this, and yet I think it is possible God answered the prayers of Cornelius because his heart was tender towards God. Here was a man who didn’t know very much and didn’t have the full picture in front of him, but his prayer was answered because in his own way, he prayed to God with faith. The blind man in John 9 seems to say something similar.
John 9.31 “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
I hope you can appreciate it came as a great surprise to me to hear that my unbelieving friend from high school prays for Ollie and my family every day. I didn’t ask her. She decided to do that on her own. I am pretty sure she does not pray to our God with the same kind of faith as Cornelius, and yet she encourages me when I hear that she prays for us every day. Here is someone who says she is not a Christ believer, but she so much wants my grandson to get better that she takes the time daily to pray to my God. I do not claim to know what God decides to do, or not do, with my friend’s prayers. What does he do next when he sees her prayer request appear in his inbox? I think I learned quite a lot from Cornelius’ story, but the honest truth is I do not know if God hears the prayers of an unbeliever. I feel we still have more questions and have more things to consider. It is a mystery to me, and I will have to be content with that for now.