Does God answer the prayers of people who are not yet Christians?

Q: I was shocked to hear a 'radio minister' say God does not listen to prayers of people who have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. Please give me some direction on this. Thank you.

A: Time to change radio stations! I only need to look to one story to answer this... that of Cornelius in Acts. Take a look at chapter 10. From the outset, in verse 2, we discover that he prays to God. In verse 4, an angel comes to him to tell him his prayers have been heard. He is told to send for Peter and here is what happened when Peter arrived:
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:34-35)

Keep in mind that Cornelius was not a man who had accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Peter subsequently told Cornelius about Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit fell on them and they believed.

When a person prays to God, He hears. The Old Testament has several examples (the people of Nineveh in Jonah 3:5-10, and Hagar in Gen 21-14-19 are two examples). In the New Testament, in addition to Cornelius, a Canaanite woman from Tyre/Sidon prayed that Jesus would deliver her daughter from a demon (Mark 7:24-30) and Jesus answered her prayer.

From testimonies people have shared with me (in addition to my wife's own testimony), one of the ways that God reveals Himself to those who don't know Him is by answered prayer.

Of course, God makes a number of statements about the believer’s prayer life and He does clarify the relationship of personal rightness before Him to his response (James 4:3; 1 Peter 3:7; and 1 John 5:14-5). God takes our prayers seriously—and so should we!

I hope that helps!

In Him,
Pastor Mark

Why do we stretch out our hand towards a baby that is being dedicated?

Q: When Pastor Randy does a baby dedication (and sometimes in other prayer situations), he asks the congregation members to reach out their hands toward the family. Can you explain why he makes that request, and what it signifies?

A: Great question! In the Bible, the traditional way of passing on a blessing from father to son was through the laying on of hands. The father would place his hand on the son that he was blessing and then would speak a blessing over them. There was even a priority given to the blessing of the right hand over the left hand (Genesis 48:14). The laying on of hands idea also seems to have been adapted to large group settings where the hands would simply be raised towards the one being blessed. Here are a few examples from the Bible:

• When Aaron the High Priest of Israel blessed the people he did it by lifting up his hands towards them and speaking the blessing (Lev. 9:22).
• In Nehemiah 8:6, when Ezra read the law and blessed the LORD (Yahweh) before the people they answered, “’Amen, amen’, lifting up their hands.”
• When parents brought their children to Jesus seeking a blessing, He took them in his arms and blessed them laying his hands on them (Matthew 19:15; Mark 10:16).
• Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He lifted up his hands and blessed his followers (Luke 24:50).
• The custom of laying hands on those to be blessed or commissioned was continued in the early church in when seven men, full of the Holy Spirit were chosen then commissioned as “deacons” (Acts 6:6) to care for the needs of the church.
• The people of Samaria received the Holy Spirit after hands were laid on them (Acts 8:17).
• Paul and Barnabas were commissioned and sent out by the elders at Antioch (Acts 13:1-3).
• Paul laid hands on some disciples at Ephesus and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6)
• Timothy received a gift prophetically when the elders had laid their hands on him in prayer (1 Timothy 4:14).

So in church when we raise and stretch out our hands towards the baby being dedicated, or the missionaries being sent out, we are simply following the ancient biblical example for directed prayer and blessing. So together, with hands stretched out, we are participating in the prayer being offered (it is kind of like a visual “Amen!”). I hope that helps!