April 29, 2022

John 9: 31 (NIV)

“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.” 

Surprisingly, seeing supernatural miracles didn’t lead people to repent and follow Jesus’ teaching.*

Rather than rejoicing with the man who was healed from a lifetime of blindness, the Pharisees dragged him out as a witness against Jesus. He didn’t help their cause because, instead, he testified on Jesus’ behalf. He tried to get them to understand that Jesus was a good man (if nothing else), otherwise God would not have listened to his prayers to heal the man’s blindness. The Pharisees, who didn’t deny that Jesus had performed a miracle, went ballistic and "threw him out."

But was the man right? Is it true that God does not listen to sinners? Aren’t we all sinners? One Bible commentary states that “God does not listen to any but those who call upon him with truth and sincerity.”* Another offers that “God is under no obligation to hear sinners.”* A third disagrees, saying that the man’s statement implies that “God never answers the prayers of men.”* So, what does the Bible say?

God doesn’t hear us if we: 

· Cherish sin in our hearts (Psalm 66: 18) 

· Have blood on our hands (Isaiah 1: 15) 

· Follow other gods (Jeremiah 11: 9-11) 

· Do evil (Micah 3: 4) 

· Don’t listen to him (Zechariah 7: 13) 

· Have a rebellious heart (I Samuel 8)

Who does God listen to?

· He hears the cry of the righteous (Psalm 34: 15) 

· If we ask in his name, he will do what we ask (John 14: 13) 

· If we ask according to his will, he hears us (I John 4: 14) 

· If we have faith in God, we will receive what we ask for (Mark 11: 22-25)

Hebrews 5: 7, says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” It doesn’t say that Jesus’ prayers were answered because of his sincerity and great emotion. We also know that he didn’t receive exactly what he asked for because he wasn’t saved from death. But we know that his prayers were heard because of his reverent submission. If that’s what it takes for the Son of God to be heard, it ought to work for us.

Imitating Jesus requires giving attention to the things he gave attention to, caring about the things he cared about, and doing them the way he did them to the best of our ability.*