Tag Archives: Prayer

If God is Sovereign, why Pray?

Posted on by
Reply

This is a question I used to struggle with quite often, and one that I still hear from people now and then.  As we come to understand that God is sovereign, having ordained the end from the beginning, that nothing surprises God but works according to His design, why then do we pray? What good does our prayer do, what purpose does it serve?

There really is no quick and easy answer to the question of, “If God is sovereign, why pray?” Well, there is and there isn’t.

The quick answer is, we pray because God commands us to pray. Throughout Scripture we are told to pray to God and to seek His face. For example:

Colossians 4:2 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

Philippians 4:6–7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;

The long answer is a bit more involved, but it really comes down to what the purpose of prayer really is.

Prayers aren’t just about asking for healing for those who are sick, or asking God to help us in our times of need. Ultimately, prayer is meant to bring God glory and honor. As we pray to God, we are acknowledging that He is God and we are not. We are acknowledging that He is the one who provides for our every need, even though we work and save and budget and plan. We are submitting ourselves to His will, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will is going to be done, praying for it to be done is saying “help me to accept and delight in your will, and to work according to it.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism teaches that prayer is, “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.”

Prayer is a means of communication. We hear God speak to us in Scripture, and we speak to God in prayer (silent, spoken, and even sung prayers). God knows everything about us, but still delights in our coming to Him in prayer, and is honored by it.

I would like to think I know my children pretty well, I’ve known them since before they were born. And I usually know what they want and need long before they do, and even know what they really need when they ask for something they want. Still, I love it when they come to me and want to talk, and ask for their needs to be met. This is, in some way, what prayer is like. Our heavenly Father knows us better than we do ourselves (Matt 6:8), and knows what we need long before we speak it, but God is honored, glorified, when we seek Him in prayer.

Finally, prayer does change things. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). God is sovereign, He has a plan for all things. And God often uses prayer to work out His sovereign plan.

Say you’re praying for a friend to be saved. As you pray regularly for your friend, God will be working in you to make you more willing to share your faith, to invite them to church, to live in such a way that they would see the faith in you. This is one way that prayer changes things.

Prayer also changes our perspective on events. Rather than seeing a crisis as hopeless, prayer allows us to see God’s hand moving in every situation, either to save us mightily, or to give us hope in the midst of suffering.

Ultimately, prayer, as in every means of grace, brings glory to God, the giver of all grace, even as it blesses the one who prays. As we pray, seeking the face of God as the source and fount of every joy and delight, every need and desire, His name is honored, and our spirits are strengthened, “and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).

This is why we pray to our sovereign God.

Grace and peace,

SDG

A Prayer for the new School Year

Posted on by
Reply

As the students in our community return to school this week, and our college students head off to new adventures, I wanted to share this prayer for the upcoming school year.

God, most Holy, sovereign, and wise: Your creation sings your praises; the heavens declare your glory; and all your works reveal your power and might.

You have spoken: calling everything into existence, and all that exists thrives as it hears and responds to your Word.

We thank you: because you speak; calling your people, first to obedience, then, after the fall, to faith in your saving grace.

We thank you: that your Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, who was full of grace and truth, and in Him we find the words of life, the revelation of the wisdom of the almighty.

We thank you: that your Holy Spirit has provided for us the Scriptures, which are breathed out by you, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that we may be competent and equipped for every good work.

Forgive us, merciful God: for our ignorance of you; for exalting in the wisdom of this age which is folly in your sight; for being filled with knowledge without love, for you or for one another; and for having an appearance of godliness while denying its power in our lives.

We pray for the students: that their eyes may be opened to the wonders and mysteries of this world and be filled with a desire to learn and grow; that their schools would be safe from acts of violence, from unwholesome speech, from lies and deception that would blind them from your truth, from the perversion of this age, which would put truth and falsehood on the same level; we pray that they may know, in their schools and their homes, that they are loved; and that the church may stand ready to present them with the truth of the gospel, and lead them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We pray for our college students: that as they venture out from home, they may be surrounded by godly influences; that the faith modeled in their homes and churches would be the faith in which they continue to walk; that their pursuit of a degree would go hand in hand with their pursuit of a life of faithfulness before you; that they would not be overwhelmed with anxiety and worry, but that your grace would sustain and support them as they walk with you.

We pray for the teachers: that they may be honored and respected by their students and the community; that they may know the support and encouragement they need from day to day; that as they teach, may they be guided in the truth of your word, so that they may teach well, with patience, grace, joy, and love.

We pray for the staff of the school: their service as support staff and para-professionals often goes unnoticed; we thank you for their faithful work; for their care for students and teachers; and pray that their service would be full of compassion, diligence, and kindness.

We pray for those who serve as administrators of our local schools: that they may be guided by your sovereign hand; that they may provide a safe, healthy, and encouraging place of learning for all students; that they may maintain fair and measured discipline when necessary; and that they may be treated with the honor and dignity that their positions deserve.

In all things, we pray, O God, that you would be glorified. As this new academic year begins, we know that we will never exhaust the “depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are your judgments and how inscrutable your ways! For from you and through you and to you are all things. To you, o God, be glory for every. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

From the Pastor’s Desk – Some interesting articles I’ve come across this week:

JEREMIAH 29:11  This is from the current issue of Tabletalk, which  in addition to the daily devotionals, has a tremendous resource of articles each month. August’s issue presents articles that are usually taken out of context, or the meaning is difficult to understand.  The Jeremiah 29:11 passage is usually cited to show that God has a happy and wonderful plan for us, we just have to figure out what it is. This article helps us to see how this passage applies to Christians today.

HOW TO PRAY IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE – This article really came at the right time.  Iain Duguid explains how to pray in times of spiritual warfare. Of course, “According to Paul in Ephesians 6, all of life is spiritual warfare. In that conflict, he reminds the Ephesians that—important though it is—the Christian armor is not enough. You and I also need to be in constant contact with God, and the means by which we stay in contact is by prayer.”

The Relentless and Exhausting Attempt to Get it Right – Thinking still about worship and the way we worship together, I remembered this article from 2001, over 18 years old, and still very much relevant to the conversations we’re having today.  Here’s the question at the heart of the article, ‘Could it be that we’ve spent so much time trying to get it right that we’ve lost a genuine sense of connection to God?”