“ Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. “

Let’s continue.

“ Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

We must remember that John, the writer of this book we are studying, wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

John was quoting what this man born blind said.

However, if what this man born blind said is a general rule with God, then we have a contradiction.

The point is, God does hear the prayer of sinners…not just from those who belong to Him through Jesus Christ His Son.

Firstly and most basic, God hears the prayer of a sinner when he or she comes to repentance and believes the gospel.

Luke quoted Paul when he wrote in Acts;

“  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: “   Acts 17:30

Paul said;

“ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. “  Romans  10:9-13

Secondly, the Bible mentions unsaved people getting answers to prayer;

“ The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. “    John 4:49-50

“ And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. “

Matthew 15:22-28

And not only this…the same man that made this statement that we are studying;

“ Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. “

was also unsaved when God healed him of his blindness, and God healed him even without him asking God to heal him!

This is also quite interesting!

According to documented history during World War 2, General Patton asked God to stop a winter storm that was expected to arrive and instead make the weather good.

The weather changed from bad to good, even to the point the skies were sunny and clear.

It is commonly accepted that God answered Patton’s prayer.

So, what this man born blind said is not the rule with God. But it does help to belong to God through faith in Jesus His Son!

“ Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. “

This man born blind was coming to believe in Jesus.

“ If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. “

I will continue with verse 34 soon.

Wayne Brown