Does God hear / answer the prayers of a sinner / unbeliever?
Scripture gives a nuanced answer to this question, and several writers help draw out the threads. The short answer is: yes, God can and does hear the cry of an unconverted soul — but the nature of that hearing, and the ground on which it rests, differs profoundly from the communion a believer enjoys with the Father.
The Publican's Prayer — Luke 18:9–14
The parable of the Pharisee and the publican is the clearest case. The publican was no saint — he was a notorious sinner by the standards of his day. Yet his prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner," was the one that went home.
F. B. Hole draws out the contrast sharply:
F. B. HoleWith the Pharisee it was himself, his character, his deeds. With the publican, the confession of sin, and of his need of propitiation — the word translated, "be merciful," is literally, "be propitious." How full of significance is verse 13! His position: "afar off," indicating he knew he had no right to draw near. His attitude: not lifting "his eyes to heaven," — heaven was no place for such a man as he. His action: "smote upon his breast," thus confessing that he was the man who deserved to be smitten. His words: "me, the sinner," for it is the rather than a here. The Pharisee had said, "I am not as other men," smiting other men rather than himself. The publican hit the right man, and humbling himself was blessed.
F. A. Hughes reinforces the same point:
F. A. HughesThe publican appears to have recognised that man's place as a sinner is "afar off" from God, and taking that place he has an appreciation, in some measure at least, that God's character is that of "shewing mercy." The work of reconciliation, the basis upon which those "far off" could be "made nigh" was not yet completed, but the publican's admission of distance from God and his appreciation too of the only source of mercy were pleasing in the sight of God.
What made the publican's prayer heard was not his piety or his merits, but his honest self-judgment and his appeal to the mercy of God. The Pharisee, outwardly religious, went home unjustified; the sinner, broken before God, went home justified.
The Thief on the Cross — Luke 23:39–43
If anyone was an "unbeliever" up until the last moment, it was the crucified thief. He had been reviling Jesus along with his companion (Matt. 27:44). Yet light broke into his soul, and he turned to the dying Christ with one request: "Remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom."
C. E. Stuart writes:
C. E. Stuart"Remember me" — who? A convicted thief, who confessed, too, that he was rightly punished. What boldness can be imparted to a sinner! In the company of Christ on the cross, put there by men, justly deserving a malefactor's death, the Lord, as he owned, innocent, having done nothing amiss, he could nevertheless ask and hope that in the day of His power He would favourably remember him. Would the Lord respond to his petition? Would He take notice of a convicted thief's prayer, and such a prayer? He did. The thief had asked for remembrance in the coming day. The Lord promised more than he had asked, for He told him he should be with Him that day in paradise.
To Luke are we indebted for this history… For of grace this history speaks, grace to a sinner, grace to the undeserving.
Here was a man with nothing to bring — no good works, no baptism, no religious standing. His only resource was to cry out to the Lord, and the Lord answered beyond anything he dared to ask.
Cornelius — Acts 10
The case of Cornelius is perhaps the most instructive. He was a devout Gentile — he prayed, he gave alms, he feared God — yet he had not heard the gospel. And God heard his prayer.
William Kelly carefully explains:
William KellyThy prayers and thine alms have gone up for a memorial before God.
And of Cornelius's spiritual state:
The Spirit of God is thus careful to make known the godly life of Cornelius. He was already a converted man, though a Gentile. But he did not know salvation proclaimed in the gospel. Therefore was Peter to be sent for… else he could only have hoped for his soul in the mercy of God. But now the gospel is to teach sinful man, without distinction; and it seemed good to the all-wise God to bless thereby such a one as this devout Roman, as He had already in the same grace paid honour to the crucified Saviour by converting as well as filling with peace the penitent robber who hung by His side.
Kelly further draws out the sweeping principle Peter learned:
ACTS_PT2Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him.
God did not wait for Cornelius to arrive at full Christian understanding before hearing his prayer. He met him where he was, and through answering his prayer led him further into the light.
A Direct Treatment — "The Unconverted May Pray to God and Be Answered"
J. McBroom addresses the question head-on in his study on prayer. Under that very heading he writes:
J. McBroomHaving departed from his created estate, it is impossible apart from a work of grace in the soul for man to approach God intelligently. Prayer is therefore properly the resource of those in relationship with God. In spite, however, of his state of alienation man is often found seeking God in prayer. This, all would admit springs from his resourcelessness and an innate sense of the supremacy of God.
He traces a striking line of examples through Scripture:
This is clearly seen in Cain, who after slaying his brother, actually held converse with God, who offered him an outlet from the consequences of his guilt. Natural conscience may own God though morally far from Him and the man of the world, while rejecting the Gospel, may often seek God in prayer regarding things of this life while content to remain outside the pale of blessing and be lost for eternity.
And further:
PrayerBalaam, at a later date, sought permission from God to curse Israel, and though actuated by the basest of motives, had considerable converse with Him. Others will own God though outside the blessing, through those that are in relationship with Him, seeking in that way His help on their behalf. The Pharaoh of the Exodus sought divine aid through Moses, Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel, and Simon the sorcerer through Peter.
McBroom is careful to add the proper distinction — while the unconverted may approach God and may receive an answer, prayer is properly the privilege of faith:
Though man in his fallen state may come to God and seek His help while ignoring the Gospel, prayer is properly a feature of the family of faith and should be marked by intelligence. "Behold he prayeth," are the words used by the Lord to distinguish one just brought to own Himself.
"We Know That God Heareth Not Sinners" — John 9:31
The one passage that might seem to say the opposite is John 9:31, where the man born blind tells the Pharisees: "We know that God heareth not sinners; but if anyone be God-fearing, and do His will, him He heareth."
William Kelly explains that this was the man reasoning with the Pharisees on their own Jewish principles, turning their own theology back on them to prove that Jesus must be from God:
William KellyHe meets them on the point of their knowledge or ignorance by the certainty of the fact on their own principles. … "We know that God heareth not sinners," etc. We know these principles. Here is a miracle without parallel, a great work. "If this man were not of God, He could do nothing."
The man's argument was not a universal theological statement about whether God ever hears a sinner's cry — it was a pointed rebuttal: by your own standards, a man who works unprecedented miracles must be from God.
The Nature of Prayer Itself
Morrish's Bible Dictionary provides a helpful summary:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryGod hears and encourages prayer. A cry to God is the mark of a soul truly turning to Him: "Behold, he prayeth," was said of Saul of Tarsus.
The very fact that Saul — at the moment of his conversion, still an enemy of Christ — was identified by the words "Behold, he prayeth" suggests that a sinner's first genuine prayer is itself a sign of God's grace already at work.
The answer, then, is layered. God does hear the prayer of a sinner who cries out to Him in genuine need. The publican, the thief on the cross, Cornelius, even Cain and Pharaoh — all found that God was not deaf to their voices. But there is an important distinction:
1. Prayer as communion — the intimate, intelligent fellowship of a child with the Father, praying "in the name of the Lord Jesus" — belongs properly to those who are in relationship with God through faith in Christ.
2. Prayer as a cry for mercy — the broken, desperate appeal of a soul who knows its distance from God — this God has never refused to hear. It is, in fact, the very prayer He delights to answer, because it rests not on the sinner's worthiness but on God's own character as one who shows mercy.
The real barrier to prayer is not being a sinner — it is being self-righteous. The Pharisee went home unjustified; the publican went home justified. As Hole puts it: "Grace was there in abundance in the perfect Son of Man, but except there be on our side the humble and repentant spirit, we miss all that it offers."