God listens to prayer of unrepentant sinner?

[Alma]

During a homily a priest said that God does not listen to the prayer of someone who lives in mortal sin and is unrepentant.

He said that if you betray and hurt a friend of yours you do not ask him or her to do you a favor because you know he or she is angry and will not do it. :nope: Likewise a person who lives in sin, and is not willing to change that, should not pray.

I disagree. :tsktsk:

God is all merciful!
Jesus said He came to rescue the lost sheep.
I have many friends and relatives who have gone astray. I am confident that if they ever prayed, God would hear and answer their prayers according to His infinite wisdom and mercy, in order to bring them back home.:yup:

Am I right?

Alma

“I have let myself be approached by those who did not consult me, I have let myself be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke my name.
Each day I stretched out my hand to a rebellious people” (Is 65, 1-2)

 

[Cherub]

We are told by Jesus to pray. We are to pray unceasingly. Unrepentant people aren’t generally inclined to pray anyway, and prayer is a sign of faith. If the only people who ought to pray are already in good with God, then we’re all in trouble.

 

[KBarn]

Biblically speaking, I am not sure that you are right, but I guess it depends on what you mean by “listens.” God will inevitably know all that has been prayed and so has heard it.

But I do not think he will answer prayers that are from unrepentant sinners. The Bible says that not all who cry ‘Lord, lord’ will be saved.

 

[Alma]

QUOTE= it depends on what you mean by “listens.”

I mean that He responds in a positive way to that prayer.



Alma

 

[RoBo_Hobo]

But what about those of us who wish to repent with God but cannot go to reconcilliation because our parents our not catholic nor do they like the catholic faith? Does this mean we are indefinant outcasts with God?

 

[FuzzyBunny116]

Yoink:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=53725

 

[RoBo_Hobo]

Much appreciated Fuzzy

 

[ames61]

I think any prayer is a way of opening the door to God’s eternal invitation to us. So an unrepentant sinner might not get the forgiveness he is praying for, but he might get the grace to begin to feel stirrings of repentance, which in turn would lead to forgiveness.

 

[Fizendell]

I believe the priest was right. When I read what you wrote:

God does not listen to the prayer of someone who lives in mortal sin and is unrepentant {\QUOTE]

I have to agree. When one lives in mortal sin, the three elements of mortal sin are present, including the full knowledge of the gravity of sin. That person may be inclined to pray, “Oh God, get me out of this one and I promise I’ll never do it again!” If we haven’t prayed that one - ask someone who has! I have and I know at that time, there was no repentance in my heart or true contrition involved! Of course I would not have expected God to hear me.

What’s interesting is that without repentance - answering the call that John the Baptist and Christ sent forth while on this Earth, God cannot hear us. Without the blood of the Savior, we are not worthy to approach the throne of God.

So yes, I completely agree - if we live in sin and DO NOT WANT to change - praying isn’t going to do us any good! God is merciful - yes - loving - absolutely! He sent his Son to DIE for us. For US!

Please don’t forget however, that God is also Just and Righteous, and it shows the depth of human pride if we think we can be so bold as to go to Him in prayer, without submitting ourselves to His will, or falling at the feet of the Crucified Lord.

I also believe, as I have experienced, that the Holy Spirit is able to fan even the tiniest flame of faith in a person. We should be praying that the Holy Spirit will continue to bring about the will of God - that everyone be saved - in every person’s heart.

=)
Kat

 

[savone]

This took place over a long, long time. Yet, it can be summarized by the following. I was living as an un-repentant sinner. Now and then, I would pray. Basically, it was that God would “bail me out.” Nothing. More un-repentant sinning. Once and awhile, a prayer like “Aren’t you going to help me out?” Nothing. Growing frustration and unhappiness on my part, yet more of the same living. Finally, in a moment of desparation I cried out something along the lines of Lord have you even been listening? I “heard” a distinctive “yes.” To which I replied, “Well, what are you going to do?”
Silence. Then, it came to me. I prayed, Lord have mercy on this sinful, sinful man. He has, He does, and He will. I believe the Lord hears us and always responds in perfect love.