Now we know that God heareth not sinners...but a worshiper of God... He heareth. Can you explain that?

Question

I did not have room for the whole text....here it is.
John 9:31 "Now we know that God heareth not sinners,but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth."
so....if He does not hear sinner's prayers, then how can one be saved?

Answer 1

I believe He hears all prayers...I believe He's saying "I will not entertain your request for My help, since you still insist on living outside of My Kingdom."

As God, He hears all prayers...as King, He's not obligated to act on all.

Man, I wish I had my concordance with me in Africa. Would be able to look at it closer.

But, I also see that this is the blind man's response to the Pharisees wanting to know who healed his blindness. I'm looking at the verse in the context of the discussion that was going on.

Answer 2

My take on this is: It's all about sincerity, the word says behold I stand at the door and knock if any one hears let him in and he'll come sup with you. In order to let him in some things have to be in order. Number one repentance then believe that he is the Son-of-God. You'll hear people that got drunk Saturday night so badly that the bed was turning around and they would say Lord deliver me from this and I promise I'll never touch another drop. Grace steps in, and next weekend they do it again this time they are given over to the Devil for serious torment. Whats so unique about God he doesn't hear a sinner prayer but his Grace is still there still. Man oh Man what a God we serve.

Answer 3

These are not the words of Jesus nor any of the apostles.

They are the words of a blind man that Jesus had just healed. He had been blind from birth. The religious leaders were urging him to condemn Jesus as a sinner. This was his response to them. It was his personal opinion. I wonder how he came up with that thought.

God hears the prayers of everyone but MAY choose to ignore those who deliberately continue to live in sin. There is one prayer that God is duty-bound to hear and answer : the prayer of genuine repentance. Then there are times that it seems that God ignores the prayers of the righteous.

I can't say that I totally agree with the theology of the recently-healed blind man.

Answer 4

A sinner would be one that has transgressed the Law of God and is not covered by the Blood of Christ. And since the Blood of Christ does not cover the one who has sinned and is not asking forgiveness God cannot hear him or her for any pray would not go through the Son of God unless first there is the repentance for the transgression.

Once the sinner has asked for forgiveness then God would hear his / her prayers.

One cannot forget that we are not to continue repeating those sins either for along with repentance come turn from sin also.

Peace and Grace
David

Answer 5

God does not have to answer a sinners prayer for any blessing BESIDES the prayer of repentance.

God does some times in His mercy answer a sinners prayer, but He is not obligated to do so.

God hears the prayers of worshipers but He may not full fill them for one reason or another (like it really is not good for that person, or at least at that time, etc...).

Answer 6

the general point is, God wants us to come to him and accept the gift of Salvation first and foremost. It isn't so much that God literally cannot hear you, he chooses only to hearken unto the prayers of his children and those of the repentant sinner. If you repent with an honest heart, admit you are a hopeless sinner, and ask for the gift of salvation through the blood of Christ Jesus, God will hear you.

Just remember, God is not some divine concierge who will send you a latte when you are feeling the need. Pray thankfully for God's blessings, whatever they may be, and pray for people who need God. Finally, after all that, place your issues at the feet of the Lord and ask him to address them according to His plan.

Answer 7

What translation are you using? Mine does not capitalize the 'he' in ..."him he hears..." That would change the meaning considerably. Instead of God not hearing prayers of everyone that prays to Him (and I happen to know that He does) it would define 'worshipping' as both 'hearing' AND 'doing'.
This would agree perfectly with James:

Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Perhaps there was more thna one 'blindness' that Jesus healed the blind man of, where this passage is found. 'Blindness' here also referring to 'naivety', and 'stubborness'.

The blind man in this chapter may well be James the brother of Jesus!

Answer 8

One is saved by entering the covenant of the New Testament. It is my belief that this occurs when the Holy Spirit convicts the heart of the sinner and the sinner then (using FREE WILL) decides to accept the love and mercy of the one true God...or to reject and deny Him.

I also believe that God does NOT hear the "prayers" of one who is not saved since they are but noise.

Answer 9

The only prayer that a lost person can pray in the Prayer of Salvation. Then God hears all their prayers.

Answer 10

Obviously Jesus did not mean it on that level. For he he says:

9"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

LK 18:9-14