If God is Sovereign, Why Pray?
One of the questions that I often encounter is in my adult Sunday School class as well as youth group is, “If God is sovereign, why should I pray?” For years I wondered the same thing. It seems that when you combine the fact that God is sovereign (He can do anything) with the fact that He is omniscient (He knows all things) prayer almost seems unnecessary. I mean, if there is no chance that I am going to change God’s mind with my prayers, than what’s the point of praying?
What helped to change my thinking about prayer and the sovereignty of God was one simple principle that has since become very precious to me: Prayer is not about changing God, prayer is about changing me. In other words, we do not pray in order to change God’s mind but rather so that God will change our mind.
One of the radical implications of this truth involves the way that we approach prayer requests. For years I maintained a prayer list which I would go over in my prayer time that simply consisted of asking God to do things for certain people (provide financially, give the doctors wisdom, etc.). These things are all well and good, but I’ve come to understand that God is interested in more than providing financially for those who I care about, or giving wisdom to the doctors who are working on those I love. God is supremely interested in my heart and how these circumstances affect me personally.
It seems that God uses prayer as one of the primary means by which He sanctifies His children. So rather than giving God a laundry list of items I would like Him to address, my prayers should focus on the needs before me and specifically on my response to those needs. For example, rather than simply praying for God to bring healing to a loved one I might want to pray something like this, “Father, I am greatly concerned for my dear friend in the hospital right now. I ask that you would provide for all of her needs and that you would bring healing to her in Your good time. But Father, I also want to confess that when those close to me are sick I find myself prone to anxiety, because I don’t want to lose them. I know that ultimately, this anxiety is really a way for me to question your goodness so Father, would you guard my heart against this temptation and help me to trust in you for the life and well being of those I love.” I believe that what God is doing in these kinds of prayers is changing my heart and conforming my desires to His. Kent Hughes described prayer in this way: Imagine getting into a boat, having secured a line to the shore and casting out onto a lake. When you pull on that line of rope, the mainland does not come to you but rather you are drawn to the mainland. In prayer, God is seeking to line us back up with Himself by changing our hearts through the discipline of prayer.
January 24 2010 05:00 am | Devotional