Does God Answer The Prayers Of Unbelievers?

            Some Christian leaders teach that God would not answer any prayer of unbelievers other than their prayer of repentance.

            The Bible portrays God answering the prayers of unbelievers:¹

Here are some passages dealing with prayer by an unbeliever:

The people of Nineveh prayed that Nineveh might be spared (Jonah 3:5-10). God answered this prayer and did not destroy the city of Nineveh as He had threatened.

Hagar asked God to protect her son Ishmael (Genesis 21:14-19). God not only protected Ishmael, God blessed him exceedingly.

In 1 Kings 21:17-29, especially verses 27-29, Ahab fasts and mourns over Elijah’s prophecy concerning his posterity. God responds by not bringing about the calamity in Ahab’s time.

The Gentile woman from the Tyre and Sidon area prayed that Jesus would deliver her daughter from a demon (Mark 7:24-30). Jesus cast the demon out of the woman’s daughter.

Cornelius, the Roman centurion in Acts 10, had the apostle Peter sent to him in response to Cornelius being a righteous man. Acts 10:2 tells us that Cornelius “prayed to God regularly.”

            Consider an instance wherein a Christian visits hospitals to pray for the sick. In such a situation, that Christian would pray for both believers and unbelievers who are sick. While praying with an unbeliever, he could advise the unbeliever to pray for healing in Jesus’ name. If the unbeliever prays earnestly to Jesus for healing, would not the living God answer his prayers?

        I am not remotely suggesting that God will heal every unbeliever who prays for healing in the same way that God need not necessarily answer the prayer of healing of every believer.

            But if an unbeliever pleads for God’s abiding presence, peace, encouragement, strength, and power to endure his sickness, would not the living God answer his prayers? Who knows, maybe the unbeliever would turn to Christ through this event as well.

            The living God, who healed Commander Namaan (2 Kings 5) – an unbeliever – of his leprosy, is sovereign in HIS nature.  An article on the Biblword website pertinently summarizes, “God is sovereign, and there is no limit to his power and ability. We cannot put Him in a box and say this or that is what He will or will not do. He knows what is in the heart of every man, woman and child. He hears the cry of their heart and He can choose to answer any prayer that He sees fit.”²

Endnotes:

¹https://www.gotquestions.org/unbeliever-prayer.html

²https://www.biblword.net/does-god-hear-the-prayers-of-the-sinners-and-unbelievers/

Websites last accessed on 30^th May 2022.  

Did God Create Music? Can Christians Listen To Secular Music?

             Music is an art engineered by man. Some people are blessed with the talent to play musical instruments, write songs, and/or sing. Others are not naturally inclined to music! (They may be more inclined towards other forms of art, science, etc.)

            This raises a pertinent question. Why are some naturally gifted to play music and/or sing whereas others are not? The reason is God. Martin Luther said, “Music is one of the fairest and most glorious gifts of God, to which Satan is a bitter enemy; for it removes from the heart the weight of sorrow and the fascination of evil thoughts.”

            God is the source of music, not Satan or anything else.

            It is God who creates man, not Satan. Hence, it is God who blesses people with the ability to participate in the field of music. So music is a gift from God.

            The Bible reveals music’s purpose:

                        1. To worshipping God (Psalm 4:1; 6:1, 54:1).

                        2. To soothe a troubled mind (1 Samuel 16:14-23).

                        3. To warn of danger (Nehemiah 4:20).

                        4. To surprise the enemy (Judges 7:16-22).

            Having said this, could Christians listen to or play or sing secular music? (Let's just define secular music as that which has nothing to do with Historic Christianity.)      

            Without pontificating, the broad answer is yes as long as the music does not malign Jesus or the Triune God or Historic Christianity in any form or manner.

            But let’s assume that a Christian is employed in a music band and that his job demands playing music (at times) that glorifies other gods. In such a situation, how should this Christian respond?

            As long as this Christian’s life is devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, he could play that music, for playing that music does not absolutely or necessarily imply a denial of Jesus.

            Let’s extend this question to a restaurant. Can a Christian be employed in a non-Christian restaurant, wherein non-Christian prayers and rituals are a daily occurrence? The answer is yes, as long as the Christian does not subscribe to the prayers and rituals directed towards another god.

            However, here’s a caveat. If non-Christian prayers, rituals, and music are distracting a Christian from worshipping his God, then he would be better off being employed elsewhere in a spiritually non-threatening environment or he should take actions to intentionally worship the living God.

            If Christians are to be employed only in Christian settings, then most Christians would be rendered jobless.

            So to return to our context, a Christian could listen to secular music as long as that music does not deny or malign the God of the Bible or Historic Christianity and as long as that music does not prevent or distract the Christian from worshipping the Lord Jesus or growing in the Triune God.

            To conclude, music is good. But Jesus is all in all. Music is a gift from God, but not a god.