Does God Answer Prayers of the Unsaved?

Let's define "unsaved"

Unsaved - "In danger of the eternal punishment of Hell"  (thefreedictionary.com)
Someone who is unsaved, has not asked God for forgiveness of their sins and believed Jesus died for them.

Does God answer prayers of the unsaved?


John 9:31 "Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and does His will, him He hears." (King James)


Proverbs 1:27-29 "When calamity overtakes you like storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord," (NIV '84)


Our job as believers is to pray on behalf of the unbelievers (unsaved). 


Do you want to be saved?

You can go to www.theprayerpeople.org and learn how, OR you can pray this:

Jesus, I know that I have sinned against You and this separates me from You. I am sorry and I want to turn away from my sinful ways and turn to You. Please forgive me. I believe that You died for me and my sins, that You rose from the dead, and are alive and hear my prayers. I'm asking You to become my Savior and the Lord of my life from this day forward. Amen.


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Do You Need Healing?

Are you sick? Is a family member ill? 

We (as Christians) have a lot of power at our fingertips, but we don't know how to use it!

Matthew 17:20 "...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Healing is directly associated with faith. 

Matthew 15:28 "'Dear woman,' Jesus said to her, 'your faith is great. Your request is granted' And her daughter was instantly healed."

Matthew 8:5 "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 'Lord,' he said, 'my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.'  

Jesus said to him, 'I will go and heal him.'    

The centurion replied, 'Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, "Go," and he goes; and that one, "Come," and he comes. I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, 'I tell you the trust, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Then Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.' And his servant was healed at that very hour.'

Prayers for the New Year 2012

What are your resolutions for the new year? Are they God-centered?

This year, try giving God a portion of your day in prayer. Whether it be two minutes or two hours, prayer changes lives!

We all have our own specific needs for ourselves and loved ones, but lets not forget about everyone else who is also going through difficult times!

Here are some examples of situations people are facing AS YOU READ THIS:
-Marital problems
-Infidelity
-Cancer
-Broken heart
-Health
-Legal battles
-Finances
-Jobs
-Temptation
-Chronic pain
-Addictions
-etc.

Please remember to pray daily for all those facing these struggles.

How Should We Pray?

Are our prayers filled with requests from God to help and rescue us?

In the Bible, David not only prayed for rescue, but he also prayed for achievement and victory!

We should recognize God is not going to grant our every wish. He is GOD, and we should worship Him, love Him, and love His people. When we look at praying as a way of communication (2-way), it helps us ask questions rather than make requests.

"How can God give me victory over this situation?"

Psalm 108:13  - "With God's help we will do mighty things, for He will trample down our foes."

Who Gets the Praise?

We ask God for a lot of help...
Help me do well on my presentation. Help me get an A in College Algebra.  Help me impress my boss so I can get a raise. The list goes on and on.

Before you ask God...
Consider who will get the praise and credit, if these prayers are answered? If God answers our prayers and we do well on the presentation, make an A in math class, and finally get a raise; are we going to give God the credit, or are we going to say:
"The presentation wasn't too bad, I did great with no help from anyone!"
"That math test was a lot easier than I thought it would be."
"It's about time my boss realized how important I am."

The truth...
Is that you obviously need to put forth a reasonable amount of effort in everything you do, but we need to realize, every good thing comes from God.
-He is the one who helped you with the presentation.
-He is the one that gave you the knowledge and ability to successfully study for the math test.
-He is the one who put you in the position to receive the bonus or raise.

Our response...
Should be gratitude towards God. He should receive the credit for these things He did for us! In everything we do, give thanks to God! He is around us every moment of every day.

Bible Verses:

1 Thessalonians 5:18   "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (King James - Cambridge Edition)

James 1:17  "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..."  (New International Version)

How to Hear God

It's easy to talk, but hard to listen.

The key to hearing God is to learn His voice. God talks to each of us differently- it may be a literal voice we hear, or it may be a subtle inspirational thought we seemed to get "out of nowhere". There's a couple steps I would recommend if you really and truly want to have a relationship with God and know when He talks to you.

1. PRAY - Prayer helps a lot more than anyone realizes.  God values our thoughts and reasons, talk to Him about your concerns!

2. QUIET - Have you ever tried to listen to someone while your cooking dinner, talking on the phone, and helping your child with a project all at the same time??? You probably won't get much out of the conversation because your so busy! It's the same way with God. He may be talking to us, but all the other "noise" drowns Him out to where we don't hear a thing!  Try to make time to just sit, relax, and listen to your creator.

3. LISTEN - It's very hard to listen. And how do we know it's God's voice? I would ask some of these questions to know if it's truly from God: a) Does it line up with scripture? b) Would it hurt other people? c) Would this bring glory to God and ultimately help other people?
As you make everything else more quiet, God's voice becomes loud and clear.

4. PRAY AGAIN - We should always maintain some type of communication with God throughout our day, it really helps. He provides insight and knowledge! Pray again and just simply ask God to show you what to do. He will answer and guide you.

NOTE: We shouldn't treat God like a magic genie.  There are some people out there that pray for God to show them the winning lottery ticket numbers... We need to think about what we are asking. Playing the lottery is gambling, which is wrong. Do you really think God will promote you doing something that is sinning against Him to begin with??? And also, winning the lottery is usually detrimental to a person and family because it brings so much wealth in a short period of time that people cannot handle the money and end up losing it all in a few short years. Please realize that God loves you so much that He knows what is best for you and for your soul, we just need to respect Him for who He is.

Prayer

Is prayer actually important???

YES. Praying is our line of communication to God. If we want a relationship to do well, we must communicate. It's the same way, but with God. If we open our hearts and talk to God, He hears us and helps us.

Romans 10:13 says, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved".
James 5:13-14 says, "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord".

These are just two references, but the Bible has many more. Most people only pray to God when they have problems and are scared, however, I encourage you to stay in constant communication with God and allow Him to guide and direct your thoughts and decisions. You will begin to have real joy and understanding!

Decision-Making

Making the right decisions is much harder than we like to admit. These decisions might be: "Is this girl/guy right for me?", "Should I buy this house?", "Do I get a divorce?", "Am I supposed to find another job?", etc. We make decisions for everything, but it seems like for the BIG decisions, we need help...

1. Pray.
This first step is hard. Sometimes we feel like we don't want to bother God with our problems? Other times, we are so busy that we completely forget about praying. It's easy to get distracted, but this is the most important step. I encourage you to just ask God, "What decision would be best for me and also bring honor to You?".

2. Ask Questions.
If we want the best for ourselves, we need to ask questions and fully comprehend what's going on. Questions give us knowledge, which lead to better decision-making. We can ask God, "Is this from You?". And we can ask ourselves, "What does the Bible say about this?". It seems like no matter how many times you open the Bible, it teaches you something. If you disagree, maybe you should try a different translation?

3. Listen.
Listen to what God says! When you have so many different things going on at once, it makes God's voice seem REALLY quiet.  Go and just find a place that is quiet and listen. Also, it's always a good idea to seek wise Christian counsel.

4. What's Natural?
Which decision your about to make comes most natural to you? As an example, if your terrified of needles and blood, its probably not a great idea to become a doctor. God made us all unique, if your especially gifted in math and you enjoy it, maybe God designed you to be an accountant? Consider spending some time weighing all your options and seeing which fits you best.

As I said above, the most important step is praying. If we ask, God can give us guidance to handle any and every situation.