Does God answer the prayers of sinners?

My brother Jared Coleman has started a mini-storm with his question, "Does God answer the prayers of sinners?" You can check out the commentary volleyball over here.

One commenter, David Scarpino, started his volley by saying, " I see no evidence that God listens or answers the prayers of the unrighteous..." and uses verses from Proverbs, Job, Psalms, and Isaiah to basically show God as saying, "If you're sinnin', I ain't listenin'." (These were the kinds of verses, by the way, that used to make me run from church, and Christians, in hopeless despair. You see, I already knew what I was - a hopeless, helpless sinner. And as such, I had been given scriptural proof that God would never, ever listen to a poor sinful schmuck like me.)

My friend [rhymes with kerouac] commented on Jared's blog: It just seems to me that the verses Mr. Scarpino quote refer to the long term, unrepentant sinner who has purposefully and willfully turned their back from God - and consciously chosen to act in defiance of Him.

Now I respect [rhymes] a great deal - and usually, I'd agree with what he writes. (To be fair, he goes on to point out that Jared and Mr. Scarpino are talking about two different things.)

And I'd even support the Scripture-slinging of Mr. Scarpino and others over there - except that so much of it flies exactly in the face of my personal experience.

You see, I drank in an alcoholic fashion from age 11 until nearly 34; I walked away from church, and belief in much of anything, for over half my life, from age 17 until nearly 34. In my former life, I have done things I couldn't bring myself to mention to a priest in confession. In every way imaginable, I fit the definition of someone who "willfully turned their back from God - and consciously chosen to act in defiance of Him."

In fact, I was consciously considering suicide - actually planning it - when I prayed that last desperate prayer: "God, help me!"

The events of the next 2 hours of that morning in December, 1990 led me to sobriety, and eventually back to faith. I won't bore you with the details (well, that's a lie; I've already bored readers of this blog repeatedly with that tale...), but the story of that morning was a series of events that even the Infinite Improbability Drive couldn't have conjured, without the considerable and loving involvement of a very-much-Higher Power.

You can sling Scriptural proof-texts around all you want; but you'll never, ever, ever convinced me that I'd repented of my sin on that December morning. (I got tired of the consequences, to be sure, but I didn't truly "repent" of my sin for weeks afterwards. I didn't "climb out of the hole," that morning, so much as I "simply quit digging." I think there's a big difference between "cease-fire" and "putting down the rifle.")

However, you will also never convince me that God didn't answer my prayer that morning. Fourteen-plus years of continuous sobriety, and blessings beyond my imaginings, indicate otherwise.

If I had to "become righteous" or "holy" before God heard my prayers, my light would have been snuffed out years ago. I believe that the fact that I am still drawing breath, and giving thanks to God for it, either affirms God's unending mercy or denies God's justice. Take your pick.

I'm glad the folks are having fun volleying back and forth over at Jared's. For me, however, the fact that I spent this day sober and reasonably non-toxic to my fellow human beings is testimony and proof positive that God answers my two simplest daily prayers: "Help me today," and "Thank You for doing so, even when You had every right and excuse not to do so."

In my own game of life, it seems that God always bats last. Perhaps the Ultimate Clean-Up Hitter?...