God Hears the Prayers of Person who Worships Him
“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”,John 9:31.
According to Saint John chapter nine verse thirty one, a sinner is not a worshiper of God nor does the will of God. If that is the case, a sinner does not pray. That is the first reason God does not hear sinners. He hears the prayers of a person who worships him. In The Seven Steps of A Christian Prayer, we learn prayer is worship of God. We were told, also, that prayer replaces burnt sacrifices or offerings, (Psalm 51:16 -18). One of the ways we praise and worship God, is with our lips or mouths, (Psalm 51:15). But if that is the complete story how could sinners receive salvation?
Since the Lord Jesus did not come to call the righteous, “but sinners to repentance” there must be an explanation or explanations why “God heareth not sinners”. From Saint John chapter nine, three main appetizers are compulsory before the main course,the prayer; confession of sins, belief in the Son of God and repentance. Let us examine three different scenarios involving these prerequisites and a publican, a blind man and a prostitute.
Saint Luke chapter eighteen verses nine to fourteen (Lk 18:9 -14) describe the behavior of two men who went “into the temple to pray”, a publican and a Pharisee. The “publican” who was so penitent refuses to look towards heaven as he prays. But the Lord accepts his prayer and he left “justified”. But the Pharisee prayed a lovely prayer which was not accepted by the Lord.
According to saint John chapter nine the Lord Jesus heals a man who was born blind. Do you think sins can cause defects at birth (not birth defects) like blindness? This man was a sinner. The Lord had healed him on the Sabbath day consequently, the Jews took him to the Pharisee to be interrogated. After his interrogation the Pharisee threw him out of the temple. This was when he had a second encounter with Christ. Jesus finds him and ask, do you “believe on the Son of God?” This formerly blind man asks Jesus “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” Then the Messiah explained, that he who is now speaks with you is the Son of God. This man did three things: he confesses, he believes and he worships. He confessed Jesus as “Lord”. He believed Jesus is the Son of God “and he worshiped him.” John 9:38. So the blind man accepts Jesus Christ and receive salvation.
On the other hand, the Pharisees had a different experience with Jesus. They overheard Jesus tells the formerly blind man that he came to earth so the blind could “see” and they who can see “be made blind.”,John 9:39. Upon hearing this they ask Jesus “Are we blind also?” Jesus replied “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” Jn 9:41. What is the meaning of all this?
If a person knows to do good and does not perform it to him it is sin, see James 4:17. The blind man received forgiveness of sin. But the “sin” of the Pharisee ”remaineth” because they knew Jesus Christ as the Son of God and refused to worship him. The formerly blind man did not possess this knowledge. However, when the Lord illuminated his ignorance he took action, he repented and worship God. Therefore, this group of “church members” did not repent and did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. They did not worship the Lord Jesus.
Luke, records an encounter a prostitute had with Jesus at a dinner. In Luke 7:36-50, a prostitute, “a sinner”, weeps, washes the Lord’s feet with her tears and wipe it with her hair, then she anoints him with “ointment” . But why?
In a previous writing, The Passover of The Lord God: Jesus Christ The Lamb of God – The Passover Sacrifice,we learn Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for man. He is the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. A sinner who expects God to hear his prayer must approach God offering sacrifices. He must offer the sacrifices of a “broken and contrite heart”, (Psalm 51:16-17). This was the sacrifices the publican offered to God when he “smote” his chest and humbled himself and surrendered himself to Jesus. That was what the blind man offered when he worshiped Jesus. That was what the sinner woman was offering why she was “weeping”, that was why she “wash his feet with her tears”and “wipe” them “with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment”.
Finally, these three: the publican, the blind man and the prostitute displayed by their actions and or words their “broken spirit”. If God did not answer sinners prayers no one could be saved for by one man sin entered into the world and we all inherit sin by being born. Before any of us approach God in prayer, we are sinners. But the instant we decide to believe on the Son of God, confess our sins to him, and repent we are no longer sinners but recipients of salvation, babes in Christ. A sinner does not know the will of God because he is far from God. A sinner by his very nature does not worship God, so the Lord does not answer the prayer of a sinner “but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”
Further Reading(s):
Prayer – Christian Prayer – Why Do Christian Pray To Jesus Christ?
How To Pray – The Seven Steps of a Christian Prayer
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