Ask the Pastor: Whose Prayers Does God Hear? What is UAC?
by the Rev. Walter Snyder
Religion Columnist
     Q: I'm a Southern Baptist. I've been told by some that God doesn't hear the prayer of
sinners. I assume this means God doesn't answer prayers of sinners. Some of the Scriptures
given to support this are as follows: Proverbs 28:9; Proverbs 15:29; John 9:31; Isaiah 56:6--7.
     A: This is hardly a Southern Baptist-only understanding of the Bible. Many passages of
Scripture speak of God choosing not to hear the prayers (or receive the offerings and sacrifices) of
unbelievers. Your understanding of God's "hearing" of prayers is Biblical: When God "hears," he
listens with intent to answer. Only the prayers of the righteous are guaranteed to be heard and
answered. The Father hears because of a relationship with his children. We might use the earthly
illustration of opening the mail box and sorting it into different piles. We choose to read and respond
to those senders with whom we have a relationship, whether they be family, friends, creditors,
brokers, or whomever. Those we don't know are likely to have their messages dropped in the trash.
     Yet we must be careful to not just exclude all "sinners" because we also know from Scripture
that "all have sinned" and "there is no one who is righteous, no, not one." But Christians still pray
trusting that God will hear and answer out of love. That is because we are clothed in Christ's
righteousness. God hears us for Jesus' sake when we pray "in Jesus' Name." This doesn't mean that
we close each prayer with the words, "in Jesus Name"; the prayer he taught us doesn't even mention
his Name! Yet the Lord's Prayer is prayer in Jesus' Name when believing, baptized Christians pray in
confidence that their sins are forgiven and that they are adopted as the Father's children for the sake
of Christ. When we come in Jesus' Name, we are confident that the Father knows us, since he knows
all his children. It's as if the "return address" of what we've sent God bears not our own names (and
the stain of our sins) but rather the holy and perfect Name of Jesus Christ.
     The Lord's Prayer also reminds us that much of what we call "prayer" may not be such, even
if we do end it "in Jesus' Name," if the content is not what we are told to pray about or if we attempt
to impose our human desires and will upon the will of the Father. The Christian can safely "demand"
forgiveness and eternal life from God and can also pray unconditionally for the spiritual well-being of
other Christians and Christ's whole church. He or she may, without reservation, praise God
according to his Word and say those things about God that God says about himself. As for earthly
(temporal) blessings, the Christian then must submit to the will of God and ask knowing that God
may have different plans, since he knows what is best for us here in time as well as in all eternity.
     Q: What do the letters "UAC" on the cornerstone of my church mean?
     A: U. A. C. stands for the "Unaltered Augsburg Confession," written in 1530 as a concise
statement of belief of the Evangelicals (Gospel people), led by Martin Luther. It separated Evangelical
(Lutheran) theology from Roman Catholicism and from other reformers' non-Lutheran teachings. It
was presented to Emperor Charles V by assorted secular (not church) leaders as their own confession
of faith. The confession was written by Philipp Melanchthon, with much input from Luther, and was
signed by various noblemen and city councils. It was later incorporated into Concordia, the Lutheran
Book of Concord. To this day, even many non-Lutherans herald it as a blow for religious freedom.
     "Unaltered" separates the original from any Variata (variation), especially that of 1540. A
Variata was a later alteration by Melanchthon, done to make sections of the confession more
palatable to other reformers who disagreed on certain points of doctrine. UAC on a cornerstone
means that a particular congregation has declared that the original document is a true exposition of
Holy Scripture and that any Variata is incorrect or imprecise and to be rejected. In the U. S., you'll
see UAC especially on churches that grew out of the Lutheran confessional movement of the mid-
1800s, including many who left Germany to avoid a government-imposed union with Protestant
churches. It was (and remains) a sign of refusal to compromise Scripture and confession of faith.
     I saved the question for this week since Sunday, June 25 marks the 470th anniversary of the
presentation of the Augsburg Confession, the day when Lutheranism truly began.
     To Ask the Pastor, please write Ask the Pastor, PO Box 12, Emma, MO, 65327 or send
email to askthepastor@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
     Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of
the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."