Is it possible to truly pray before you are a Christian?
As I have thought about prayer recently and talked with others about it, I think that this is a common thought and a common question that we have. The answer, of course, depends on your definition.
Generally speaking, people hold to a very broad view of prayer, meaning that prayer can legitimately take on many forms and many practices. For some, prayer might involve meditation and silent thoughts directed at the universe. Or prayer might involve rosary beads and statues. Prayer could be directed towards one God or many gods. This broad view of prayer is really focusing on the action itself, without reference to the object receiving prayer. In a sense, this is a legitimate view of prayer. It basically takes into account the common action associated with prayer regardless of the object. It’s also the way that most people understand prayer.
However, strictly speaking (or at least from a Christian/Theological point of view), prayer is a very specific thing or more to the point is directed to a very specific person. Christian prayer is directed towards the one and only God. And we know this God because he has revealed himself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. The revelation of God is essential in defining prayer rightly. Typically we may think of prayer as, “talking to God.” But because of the revelation of God in Jesus, we really must refine the definition. Prayer is our response to God as he speaks to us.
Consider the basis for Christian prayer. Because of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, and because we have faith in him, because we are united with him, and because he sends his spirit to bring us life, we are then adopted as sons and call God our Father. It is because of this that every prayer of ours is heard by the Father. It is because we are adopted as sons that we can even approach God as Father.
With this in mind then, is it possible to pray to God before we are Christian? The way I see it there are two possible answers.
Without having faith in Christ it is indeed possible to pray in some limited sense. That is, if you consider prayer as merely talking to something bigger than yourself then anyone can pray to anything. But theologically the Bible tells us that there is indeed only one God and that all other gods are mere idols fashioned by man. This includes all man-made notions of the one God, meaning that we can have a completely incorrect and idolatrous view of the God of the Bible. These ideas and ‘gods’ have neither ears nor mouths that they can hear and respond. Nor do they have hands that they might do anything. So again in a sense, this could be considered prayer. But it is prayer in blatant rejection of who God has revealed himself to be, and it is useless. In fact, it is not only useless but sinful. In many instances those praying treat prayer as a bit of a lottery ticket. You put in the money and you hope to get something out of it. I think as humans we have this idea that we can approach any god or gods in whatever way we want and ask whatever we want to like it doesn’t matter. But nothing could be further from the truth.
My second answer is that anyone can try and approach God in prayer, but for those of us who approach God without the Lord Jesus, without faith in him, we are approaching God the judge. We are approaching God in all of our sinfulness and with all of our enmity towards him. But for those of us who approach God through Jesus, we will approach God as adopted sons because of the sonship of Jesus. And that means we will approach God as our loving father. But even if we wouldn’t call ourselves a Christian, yet are earnestly seeking the Lord as he is revealed himself in scripture, and this then ultimately leads to us calling on the name of the Lord in faith for forgiveness and grace, then we would look at such an instance and attribute that to the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Sin is so deeply embedded within us that we would never naturally call out to the God that we have rejected. But through the regeneration of the Spirit and the faith that follows, we then pray to the Father through Jesus the Son. This is true prayer, and it takes a Christian to do it.
“…when we were children, [we] were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal. 4:1–7)
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Rom. 8:14–17)
Bigvai and Shiphrah 