Does God answer unsaved people's prayers?

Answer

God is not obligated to answer the prayers of unsaved people. He may choose on some occasion to do that, but normally He would be doing what He would be doing anyway and they would maybe "hit it on the head" once in a while. But if He's driving them, if He's driving them to Himself, He may bring those sequence of events. God is not obligated to answer the prayers of unbelievers simply because He says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear me."

Question (continued)

My [unsaved] mother-in-law always says that she prayed for her kids and everything seemed to turn out okay, which, you know, my husband said that undoubtedly her prayers were answered in many ways.

Answer (continued)

But, you see, there's just as many people who prayed and their kids didn't turn out all right. So, you see, it's just a matter of, you know, they're either going to turn out good or bad and so you've got a fifty-fifty shot even if God isn't listening.

Question (continued)

Then it's the Lord's will then.

Answer (continued)

It's just this; it's just that an unbeliever has no claim on God, none at all. As I said, some things may happen that appear to be what they prayed for, but you can't say that that's because God is working in their behalf. It's a good question and it's an important question because people often ask that. Now I believe one prayer that's always answered in the heart of an unbeliever is the prayer of salvation, the prayer of faith that seeks to know God and know Christ.