Does God hear unbelieving prayers?

An interesting question to ask is whether or not God hears the prayers of the unbelievers. Or, more accurately, what does He do when they pray? It is often said that the only prayer God hears from unbelievers is the prayer for salvation. We know for a fact this is a prayer He hears. If a man will humble himself before God, repent of His sin and believe, the prayer for salvation will be heard. But is that all?

Connected to the salvation issue is the prayer for evidence. Obviously, you don't want to become a Christian if Christianity is not true, and when one already believes in a god of some form, it becomes harder to forsake that god. Scripture tells us a lot about how to reason from a Christian perspective. Romans 1:19-20, for example, tells us that unbelievers already have enough evidence from creation that God exists. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to test all things and hold on to that which is good. It also goes as far as to say that a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but they will only get one: The "sign of Jonah", i.e. the resurrection (Matthew 12:39, 16:4; Luke 11:29-30). Effectively, the Bible says God is not obligated to show Himself to us. He's already given us far more than we deserve.

But that doesn't mean He doesn't answer requests for evidence. In fact, many Christian testimonies consist of a heartfelt prayer. I remember one particular Muslim woman who became unsure in her faith, and so one night, she prayed that whichever God is real; Jesus or Allah, He would reveal Himself. He did.

And it's not just Muslims. I remember a man, down on his luck, was encouraged by a Christian (his girlfriend, if memory serves) to pray. This was a man that actually scoffed at God. But he did humble himself enough to pray. The next day, a Christian man was randomly handing out $100 to people. God answered this man's prayer through one of His servants, and so the man converted.

And so I think it's fair to say that sometimes, God does answer requests for evidence or revelation to someone who does not currently believe. But there is a flip side to this. See, the general principle of prayer is that it must be prayed according to His will. When a prayer is said without God's will, it could come from a believer or an unbeliever, God likely won't answer it. Say, for example, I want a really expensive, flashy car. It doesn't matter how many times I pray for it, God isn't just going to drop a Lamborghini on my driveway tomorrow.

And so John tells us that whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us, and that therefore, we know that we already have what we asked Him for. An unbeliever praying for salvation is always in God's will, at least so far as he is praying for salvation with the intention of getting it. God wants people saved, and so if you pray for salvation, you're saved.

With prayer, it's important to remember that we're not dealing with a genie, neither are we doing a scientific experiment. God has things no force or genie will ever have: free will and the authority to use it. Therefore, God can choose to answer any prayer He wills, from whoever He wills.

Since unbelievers lack faith, and often ask amiss (which James 4:3 tells us is a good way to ensure your prayers are not answered), their prayers will always be less effective. But when they humble themselves, God often ceases to resist them. When all is said and done, prayer depends not on who prays it, but the God being prayed to, and God is very complex. Neither His wisdom nor His mercy can be fully summed up in one article, or even understood in one puny human mind. Therefore, we can safely say that God hears every prayer, but how He answers depends entirely upon Himself.