And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
Acts 10:4 (NKJV)
I remember one day after a prayer meeting, a woman came to me and asked me to pray with her for her sick son. When I asked her what his illness was, she answered that she knew God would not hear her because she was not a Christian, but she still believed in God. Without saying anything more, I took her hands and prayed with her. Right after, she asked me if God would answer her prayer since she was not a Christian. I opened my Bible with her to Acts 10 to tell her the story of Cornelius.
To the question: Does God hear the prayer of unbelievers? I would answer that He always hears their prayer, but He does not always answer as they desire. The story of Cornelius shows us a pious man, fearing God with his family, giving a lot of alms and praying to God continually. If you had known him, you would probably say that he was a man of God and that he feared God. However, Scripture reveals that despite his spiritual attitude, his life was not yet in harmony with the will of God. He had not yet come to know Jesus Christ to accept Him as his Savior and Lord.
The angel told him that God had heard his prayers and remembered them. The angel's response proves to us that God hears the prayers of those who pray to Him because they believe in Him, even unbelievers. However, before answering their prayers, He will use a means to bring them back to Himself through Jesus Christ. Hence the case of Cornelius. God's answer to his prayers was not to answer his requests, but to first lead him to become a disciple of Christ. So the answer to this woman's question is that God often does not answer an unbeliever's prayer unless that unbeliever has the heart to respond to God's invitation to accept Jesus Christ as his savior.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
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