Question:

If you are a sinner, does God answer your prayers?  Does God always hear you if you find yourself distant from God?

“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth” (John 9:31).  If one refuses to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, does it not seem strange that this person would pray and make requests from the Lord?  The Lord will not hear that person’s prayers.  While the Lord may bless a sinner as a response to a believer’s prayer (such as a parent praying for the safe-keeping of their unsaved child), the Lord does not respond to the prayers of one who has rejected His gift of grace.  The Lord will always hear the prayer of a believer if two conditions are met.  First, the request must be according to His will (read 1 John 5:14).  A Spirit-led prayer will always be “according to His will.”  Secondly, if we continue in sin, our fellowship with the Lord is affected and may cause Him to not hear our prayers (read Psalm 66:18).