Question: A while ago I read in the Bible that God does not answer prayers from those who are not ...

Question: A while ago I read in the Bible that God does not answer prayers from those who are not saved [but] if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, He will give you anything you ask. I have searched and cannot seem to find the “very clear” answer I found once before. I found a few other references, but not the exact statement I was looking for. Can you help me?

Response: Concerning the Lord answering prayers of unbelievers, we know that He inspired the writer of Psalm:66:18If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
See All... to state, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” After declaring that His power and ability has no limit, the Lord in Isaiah:59:2But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
See All... declared to a sinful and disobedient Israel, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

Nevertheless, Scripture does on occasion speak of God both hearing and answering the prayers of unbelievers. Concerning these passages, prayer was clearly involved. For some, God answered the heart cry of the individual. Hagar lifted up “her voice and wept” as she considered the imminent death of Ishmael (Genesis:21:14-19 [14] And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. [15] And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. [16] And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. [17] And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. [18] Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. [19] And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
See All...).

For others, the prayer is presented with an attitude of repentance. Those in Nineveh prayed that God might spare Nineveh (Jonah:3:5-10 [5] So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. [6] For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7] And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: [8] But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. [9] Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? [10] And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
See All...). God answered this prayer and did not destroy the city. But in other examples, the prayer or petition concerned an earthly need or blessing, and God responded out of compassion or in response either to the genuine seeking or the faith of the person. The Lord sent the apostle Peter to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, because Cornelius was an unsaved but “devout” man (Acts:10:2A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
See All...), who “prayed to God always.”

Jesus spoke of the prayer of a tax collector in contrast to that of a self-righteous Pharisee, saying “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke:18:11-14 [11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. [12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
See All...).

Although we can have confidence that God answers prayers, there clearly are points where the Lord exercises His sovereignty and wisdom: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John:5:14-15 [14] And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: [15] And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
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Our loving Father knows what’s best for us, and His answers to prayer are given for our best interest. In John:15:7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
See All..., Jesus stated, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” The Lord is clearly concerned about our “abiding” in Him. Consequently, we cannot say that as believers “He will give you anything you ask....” We also need to remember that “no” or “not now” is also an answer.

In James:4:3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
See All..., the inspired writer points out, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” For example, the believer who is mishandling his finances cannot expect a prayer for material blessing to be answered. Rather, the Lord’s priority for believers is to be “conformed to the image of His son” (Romans:8:29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
See All...). That priority will clearly affect how the Lord answers the prayers of a believer.