"I'm Here"

Forty years or so ago, an author of books for young people (Judy Blume) titled one of her stories, "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." That title came to mind today when I was thinking about whether or not God answers the prayers of those who aren't committed to serving Him.

Understandably, there is not consensus among non-believers, believers, and even scholars. Personally, I grew up believing that the only prayer God could hear from a sinner was "the sinner's prayer"—that is, "I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and I now receive Him as my Savior." That is what my religious instructors taught, and so that is what I believed. I am less sure of that now that I understand God is very much bigger than I thought!

Yes, there are Scriptures to argue for only "children of God" getting their prayers through. The blind man whom Jesus had healed declared, "Now we know God does not hear sinners, but only those who worship God and do His will." (John 9:31) The blind man, however, was simply making an argument against calling Jesus a sinner on the basis of the healing He had done on the Sabbath. He was not making a theological statement or attempting to teach those who were present.

Isaiah speaks of the sin issue too, as does the Psalmist. "Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. (Isaiah 59:1, 2; Psalm 66:18, 19 NKJV) There is a condition here that should not be ignored: these were God's own people. He needed to make clear that withholding blessing from them was, or would be, the consequence of dishonoring Him before those around them. To enjoy His favor while living in open sin would send the message that right relationship to God is of little concern.

Does God answer the prayer of sinners when they ask for protection, provision, or other kinds of help? It's hard to say. Countless stories assure us that some wonderful things do happen that are hard to explain in any other way. We know that "the Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation." (Psalm 145:8, 9 NLT) And ”he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike." Matthew 5:45 NLT) Did the righteous farmer get his prayers answered while the unrighteous farmer couldn't expect anything and just had to take what came? I guess only God knows. And He is the one who gets to decide.

I like to encourage people wherever I meet them to pray. Sam Shoemaker, who had significant spiritual impact on Alcoholics Anonymous and who founded the Faith at Work organization, tells of dealing with a desperate man who admitted he didn't believe in God and certainly didn't know how to pray. The Rev. Shoemaker asked him to try this experiment (on a regular basis): First, get down on your knees and say whatever comes to mind, addressing your thoughts to "The Unknown." Secondly, read a chapter from the book of John in the Bible.

Out of respect for the man of God, the inquirer obliged, albeit reluctantly. After awhile, the man found he was actually praying to God and he was reading the Bible on his own. At last he had to admit that "something" was helping him; he eventually became a Christian believer and a leader in the church. This was simply because, Shoemaker says, faith came in "when there was an opening for God to get through."

I would not want to limit God in the creative ways He uses to woo the hearts of those who need somebody on their side.

Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret—or Jennifer or Emily or Madison.
Yes, I'm here.

Marjorie

Scripture marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.