And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. -- Hebrews 11:6

God loves His creation and every living creature. As our Creator and Governor, God meets the needs of everyone, and every gift anyone receives ultimately comes from our loving and caring God. In this way, God shows His love for His enemies as well as His friends. And He does not require any more of us than He does of himself. Jesus commanded His followers: "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:44,45). When we love and bless our enemies our moral character is similar to the character of God and we are truly His children. The Apostle Paul confirmed this principle of actively loving our enemies when he preached to those who worshiped idols: "Yet God has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy" (Acts 14:17). God's goodness to all is a testimony to His character, and may lead some to recognize His work in the world and come to believe in Him. If we live in accordance with the character of our Heavenly Father, we bring credit to God and honor Him before others, and our testimony about Him takes on greater credibility.

As Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed for His enemies and practiced the love He preached. When one of the robbers who hung beside Him saw Him bless His cruel enemies instead of curse them, he repented and was saved (Luke 23:34,47,48). The way God's Son died as a human being demonstrated the extent of God's love for His enemies, and made the atonement the greatest event in human history. As Paul wrote, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

&#God wants us to act like His sons and daughters in this age of grace, and He calls us to represent His character and loving approach toward the wicked. We must help them find God and meet many of their other needs. Just as God blesses both the righteous and the unrighteous by giving them sun and rain for their crops, so we need to love, pray for, and seek to do all the good we wisely can to help others regardless of their character. As the Schaeffers practiced love for all, they especially demonstrated God's love for unbelievers. For the first time, some who had been raised in the church all their lives and had rejected Christ saw how a group of Christians should love one another and treat the unrighteous. They saw Christian love practiced as well as preached and that led them to consider the Gospel's claims once again. When they learned about the true character of God by observing how His children acted, many came to believe in and worship the true God.

Yet, regarding prayer, we cannot say that God treats believers and unbelievers in exactly the same way. In the Bible, God revealed the conditions that we need to fulfill to have assurance of receiving His answers to our prayers; and wicked, unbelieving people do not fulfill these conditions. For example, faith is a condition for pleasing God. And confidence in prayer depends on the conditions of pleasing God, and believing that He exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

The cries of the wicked are not the same as the prayers of the righteous. Because God loves everyone, He will sometimes answer the cries of the wicked, but this is totally different from answering the prayers of the righteous. Just as we would try to save a family that screamed inside a burning house, without first evaluating their character to see if they were worthy of our efforts, time and time again God shows His mercy and redeeming power by rescuing rebellious and unbelieving people from tragedies or from suffering the full consequences of their disobedience when they cry out to Him. But because of their rebellion, too often they will not acknowledge God's providential care for them or come to saving faith.

The Bible does not give the wicked any reason to believe that God will answer their prayers. Indeed, we discover that when the Israelites continued to live in sin, they could not find God when they prayed. When the prophet Hosea called them to repent, he revealed a principle that not only applies to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but to every person who is guilty of rebelling against God: "Israel's arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them. When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them" (Hosea 5:5,6). Sin separates us from God and keeps us from praying effectively. The Psalmist also recognized the destructive power of sin with respect to prayer:

"Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!" (Psalm 66:16-20)

To have confidence that God will answer us when we pray, we must go to God in Christ Jesus, the Way God has provided. But we must not simply "name His Name" as a magical formula, thinking that will move God. Going to God in Jesus Christ includes asking Him to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to make us worthy to come into His presence. Otherwise, we pray with presumption and have no assurance that God will hear us and answer our prayers. Failure to recognize this vital principle, after they have believed in and claimed other promises from God in the Bible as they have prayed, has led some wicked people who thought they trusted in God to eventually reject God and prayer because He did not come near.

God will sometimes hear the calls of distress by wicked and sinful people, but He has not promised to hear their prayers. Prayer is far more than a distress signal. Regarding true prayer, the Scriptures state clearly: "The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him. The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous" (Proverbs 15:8,29).

If we have practiced sin and run away from God, God encourages us to return: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). To seek God with all our heart means that we do not cherish sin in our hearts. We must turn from all known sin to seek after Him. God has promised that we will find Him if we turn from sin and earnestly seek Him with a heart to obey Him when we find Him.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, reveal to me any sin or love for sin that may be keeping me from you or knowing by experience that your face shines upon me. I do repent of all my sins now, and ask that you will forgive me for all my unrighteousness. I bow before Jesus Christ and acknowledge Him as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for drawing me toward you by the power of your Holy Spirit and saving my soul for Jesus' sake. Amen.

© Copyright L. G. Parkhurst, Jr. Revised Edition 2008
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