The following is based on a discussion I had with an atheist. What I've found in talking to atheists is that many of their objections are based on simply not having a firm grasp of Christian teaching. Don't be afraid to talk to people!

Atheist: If God actually existed, prayers would be answered.

Christian: God does answer prayer. Just try it! But He doesn’t answer every prayer with a “yes.” Sometimes it’s a “no.”

Atheist: That’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says something completely different. You’re not getting your answer from the Bible, because the Bible says precisely the opposite.

Christian: Where?

Atheist: Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:24-25).

Christian: How does that disprove what I said?

Atheist: Jesus said “whatever” you pray for, “it will be yours.” That means he promised to answer every single prayer with a “yes.” So the whole idea that sometimes God says “no” is not Biblical.

Christian: I understand what you mean now. You’re taking Jesus’ promise as totally unconditional.

Atheist: I’m not taking it that way. It is unconditional. Whatever you pray for, believing, you’ll receive it. That’s what he promised. You don’t believe what he promised?

Christian: I don’t believe your interpretation. What Jesus promised doesn’t occur in a vacuum. I think you have to read it as part of the overall context of His teaching, of the Bible, and even of His character. For example, the apostle John wrote that for God to answer a prayer, it must be according to His will: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 John 5:14). If your prayer contradicts His will, God won’t answer it with a “yes.”

Atheist: Then that verse makes prayer totally useless.

Christian: How so?

Atheist: Because it means God will do what God will do regardless of your asking. Your interpretation literally nullifies prayer.

Christian: I don’t understand how you’re reaching that conclusion. Explain it to me.

Atheist: If the only prayers God answers are prayers about what He was going to do anyway, there’s no point in praying. Prayer would be totally useless on your view.

Christian: Ahh, you’re thinking that God’s will means the things He was going to do anyway. In other words, you’re assuming that God’s will always gets done.

Atheist: Of course! What other option is there?

Christian: That God wants some things to happen that don’t happen because we haven’t prayed for them.

Atheist: What does that mean?

Christian: Oftentimes, God’s will doesn’t get done. For example, God has a “moral will.” He does not want there to be any murdering: Thou shalt not murder. But does that mean there are no murders? Of course not. People disobey God all the time. All sin contradicts God’s will. Similarly, God also wills to bless His people—to give us benefits. But it’s possible not to receive those benefits because we haven’t prayed for them. James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). God wanted to give them a blessing, but they didn’t get it because they didn’t ask for it. So, prayer is not useless. It makes a difference. Praying for certain benefits so God can give them to us accomplishes His will, which otherwise might not be accomplished.

Atheist: That whole thinking contradicts Jesus’ unconditional promise.

Christian: Only if He meant that promise to be unconditional, which I deny. I don’t see how that is possible.

Atheist: Why not?

Christian: Do you think Jesus meant that if you prayed for something sinful He had to answer it? Do you really think if someone prayed, “In Jesus name, let me sell $500 worth of meth today,” that Jesus meant He would answer that? Of course not. There’s no way that is according to God’s will. Plus, James went on to say, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). That’s another reason for God’s “no.” If you pray for something with the wrong motives or for something that satisfies your sinful flesh, God will not answer that prayer with a “yes.”

Atheist: Then Jesus’ prayer doesn’t make any sense at all, and no one can understand the Bible at face value.

Christian: I don’t think that’s true. Do you really think that Jesus would answer a sinful prayer?

Atheist: That’s what he promised.

Christian: Forget about how you’re interpreting that verse for a second. Knowing what you know about Jesus, or about God…

Atheist: I don’t believe in Jesus or God. Just to be clear.

Christian: Fair enough. But knowing what Christians believe about Jesus—about the kind of person He is, would you expect Jesus to answer prayers about successfully murdering, raping, or violating people?

Atheist: No.

Christian: Exactly. That wouldn’t make sense given everything else He taught. It wouldn’t make sense given who He is. It’s the same thing with prayer. You have to remember that Jesus’ teachings don’t occur in a vacuum. They occur in an immediate context, a broader context, and in the context of His character. I think He would expect His listeners to exercise that kind of common-sense interpretation. And part of that context is that a holy God will not answer sinful prayers. I mean, some verses say God doesn’t even hear those prayers, let alone answer them: “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29). I take that to mean He doesn’t hear the prayers of wicked people. And Isaiah writes, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!” (Isaiah 1:15). According to that prophecy, God can refuse to listen to prayers. That means He will not answer them. So, I think Jesus’ teaching about prayer needs to be understood in the context of that wider theology of prayer.

Atheist: Then you can’t believe in inerrancy.

Christian: I do believe in it. But why do you say that?

Atheist: Because if someone only had the Gospel of Mark, they wouldn’t know all this other stuff and couldn’t understand what Jesus said there. So, it’s like, God would just be deliberately confusing people by not speaking clearly.

Christian: I see what you mean. That would not be an inerrancy issue. That’s more of a maturity issue.

Atheist: A maturity issue?

Christian: Think of a dad taking his family to a restaurant and telling his kids, “You can order whatever you want!” I can imagine a little boy saying, “You mean I can order…a Ferrari???” Is that a fair understanding of what the father meant?

Atheist: Obviously not.

Christian: Right. The dad was talking about ordering food on the menu, not ordering literally “whatever.” The kid should have known that. And there are probably other unspoken considerations, too. Maybe they have a strict no-sugar policy, so it’s understood the kids can’t order a Coke. Or it’s understood that the kid can only order one dish, not ten or twelve. Sure, the boy could complain, “But you said I could order ‘whatever’! You’re a liar!” And the dad would rightly respond that the kid is taking a childish interpretation of his words and needs to grow up and understand the context better. It’s the same for understanding the Bible. There are hard passages, for sure, but we don’t need to make things harder by reading them out of context and against common-sense.

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