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1 Timothy 2:5

… there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…

Does God hear non-believers when they pray? That is a great question. Let’s go to Scripture and see if God speaks to this subject. There are a few passages to point out that could help us understand this topic:

Psalm 66:18 - If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Proverbs 15:29 - The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Isaiah 1:15 - When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

John 9:31 - Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.

These verses do not state that God cannot hear the prayer of the lost. They tell us He chooses not to listen. Why? Sin, the great separator. The underlying point is that sin separates us from God in many ways. One basic way is in prayer. Unfortunately, unbelievers are still lost in their sins. They have not been forgiven. They have not been cleansed of their sins. Therefore, without accepting the work of Christ, God chooses not to hear an unbeliever due to their issue of sin. They are still separated from Him. 

Furthermore, if Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), that would include the practice of prayer. Jesus is the only One who can connect us to the Father. Prayer is part of that connection. Without that connection, prayer is minimal, at best. Due to that, the prayer of non-believers will usually not be heard. It applies to Christians, too. If we live in a state of unrepentant sin, our prayer will be extremely hindered, although not to the extent of the unbeliever.

In saying that, God is sovereign. He may very well choose to answer the prayer of a non-believer if it aligns with His will. There are examples of that in Scripture, but again, it seems that those prayers happened to align with His will. In general, however, the prevailing idea among pastors and theologians is that while God hears all things, He usually only chooses to listen to His children. It seems to be a privilege that His children enjoy.

As God’s children, Christians get to know the voice of God. We might have a hard time describing it. The reception might get fuzzy due to the physical world, but deep down, they know it. It would be similar to a human child knowing the sound of his father’s voice. Since non-believers do not know what God’s voice sounds like, they will not hear if He speaks to them. Additionally, it is very difficult to talk to someone you don’t know or someone you don’t have a relationship with. 

It might help to think of it this way: We don’t deal with other people’s children too much. There is a certain measure that we deal with other people’s children, but our own kids are our first priority. Under normal circumstances, if someone else’s child comes to me at the movie theater and asks if he can have a bag of popcorn, I’m probably going to direct him to his own parent(s). However, if a child is about to get hit by a car, I would intervene and save him, of course. So, there is an extent that we will deal with other kids, but not anything like our own.

I think of Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace… That is written to Christians, which means that because of Jesus' work on the cross and the resurrection, we can confidently go to God’s throne, knowing that He cares and listens to us. We have VIP access to the throne of God, whereas unbelievers do not. By the way, WE are how lost people get connected with God. It’s us!! That’s why the Bible refers to all Christians as priests, which are bridge builders to God (Revelation 1:6, 1 Peter 2:9).

Although God does not generally choose to listen to the unbeliever, there is one prayer He will always hear… the prayer of salvation, or repentance. A clear verse to indicate that would be Romans 10:13 - …whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. That is definitely a prayer that is aligned with God’s will… the unsaved being saved. When a lost person wholeheartedly decides to come to Jesus, He will ALWAYS say yes.

So generally, prayer is a mostly unique privilege of Christians, but God will hear the lost at specific times, especially when they pray to receive Him. That is one reason why we should desire the urgency to share Jesus. I pray that we can all make sure that we act as the priests we are and connect a lost world to Jesus.

1 John 5:14

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.