Lord, Hear Our Prayers
The week before Easter, Pastor mentioned his granny, whom he led to Jesus at the end of her life, right before she passed. He’d probably talked about it with her in the past to no avail, but something about being on your death bed imposes a sense of urgency, I imagine. She told him, “God doesn’t hear the prayers of sinners.” If that were true, we’d ALL be in trouble. But it did get me to thinking…I know, that’s dangerous…but in case there’s anyone else out there confused like me, I felt compelled to share.
Pastor’s granny may have been raised hearing the scripture John 9:31 which says, “We know that God does not listen to sinners.” When I read that, I thought, ‘that’s how Christianity get’s a bad rap...(seemingly) contradicting words.’ But what I’ve learned is to always read a scripture in its FULL context. Read the whole chapter if you have to, or at least the whole section from which it’s found. In this case, this verse goes on to say “He listens to the godly person who does his will.” But if you look at the whole story, the 9th book of John, you’d read that the Pharisees are questioning the blind man whom Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. It was the now-healed man who made the statement, not a proclamation of God.
We know that God is a loving God, willing that none should perish. We know that he hates sin and turns away from it. However, we also know that He is omniscient and omnipresent, meaning He’s all knowing and He’s everywhere, all the time and can see and hear all things. I have to believe that when we cry out to Him, as believers, in prayer and praise, He KNOWS our hearts. Think of it like this…when your teenager, who is constantly defiant and disobedient, comes to you with sad eyes and asks to use the car or borrow money, your instinct tells you that they’ve not come to a miraculous revelation of “honor your mother and your father,” and this may lead you to deny their request. I think God will hear the plea of a non-believer but may not respond because that person’s heart is not right, it is not aligned with His will, and they are only acting in desperation or anger.
There’s one MAIN action in the bible that dispels the “God doesn’t hear sinners” myth to me. The thief on the cross. Yes, there were two, one on either side of Jesus, but one only mocked Him saying that if He was the Messiah, He should save Himself AND the thieves. However, the other criminal rebuked him saying that they DESERVED their sentence, while Christ did not and he asked Jesus to remember him when He got to heaven. Jesus, knowing this man’s heart was sincere, honored his request saying, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
These thieves were sinners, just like you and me. The bible tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God and that the wage for sin is death. But Jesus took those sins, for ALL the people, past, present and future, upon His back when He was tortured and crucified. When we can accept this truth, with complete surrender and repentance, He WILL hear our prayers and secure a place in paradise for us too.