A couple of years ago, I was challenged about my view of God’s Sovereignty. I once believe that He did not control all things, but rather had delegated some control (for want of a better term) to humankind. Yet, a careful look at the Bible made me question this view, and ultimately dismiss it. God is in control of all things, directing and holding everything together.
You can read my posts on that subject here – Wrestling with the Sovereignty of God, and – The Sovereign God.
Taking the view that God does indeed have supreme sovereignty and controls everything that happens leads to some very difficult questions. The problem of evil for instance, how can evil exist within God’s will? This is a subject for another day, and is by no means a straightforward one.
Another question relates to prayer. If God controls and directs all things according to His will, then what role does prayer play? The Apostle Paul wrote Romans 9, where he discusses sovereignty, yet also wrote Romans 10 which encourages us to pray. Clearly Paul saw no contradiction.
I have been reading a book on sovereignty this week, and the subject of prayer was briefly discussed in a chapter I read last night. The author did not say what I am about to, but certainly inspired my line of thinking.
Prayer is not about getting God to do what we want. Rather, prayer is God asking us to align to His will and purpose.
Let me explain with an example: football (or soccer for our American readers!).
When I line up a shot in a football game, and kick the ball with all the precision and accuracy I can muster, and it goes towards the corner flag (not the goal), my teammates do not run forward, grab the goal and move it to the corner so that I score! Imagine that for a moment, and how silly it sounds!
Instead, when I play football, I must kick the ball towards the goal. The goal never moves nor does it grow or shrink. I need to get that shot on target and it does absolutely no good to shoot anywhere else on the pitch.
How does this apply to prayer? Well, often we pray and are expecting God to move. We give Him our list of wants, and we are waiting on Him to make it happen. This is akin to shooting at the corner, and expecting the goal to move.
As God is Sovereign, He will do His will and His will only. When we pray, if we are praying for something outside of His will, then it will never happen. Similarly, if we pray in His will, we can be certain it will come to pass.
Why pray then? If God will do His will alone, then our prayers cannot change that. If I pray in God’s will, it will happen, but certainly would have happened independent of me. Likewise, if I pray outside of His will, it will never happen no matter how elequont or frequent my prayers. Prayer is just a waste of time right? Absolutely not!
Take the Lord’s Prayer – we pray “Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” This is a prime example of a waste of breath if we are asking for God’s will to be done. If sovereignty holds, then God will keep His own will no matter what. Yet this prayer is not a request! We are not asking for God’s will to be done, as it certainly will be. Rather, we are praying in recognition and agreement with that! It is not a request but acknowledgement! God’s will is done on Earth as in heaven, and we rejoice of that fact!
God wants us to recognise the fact that His will is good, pleasing and perfect (see Romans 12:1-2). When we accept that, why would we pray for anything else other than His will?
Prayer is not about taming God and getting Him to do what we want. It is about humbling us, and changing our mindsets such that we want all that He plans to do. We pray, “If it be your will…” so that we recognise and accept that God’s will is best for us.
Understanding this, I’ll admit, very difficult truth, provides us with extreme security. We may want one thing or another, yet if it does not happen we know that it is because God did not will it. That means He has a different purpose in mind. Too many of us do not think about the long game, only about our immediate comfort.
I say all of this absolutely realising that many of us are going through some very difficult, even life-threatening things. How dare I say people facing such things are in the midst of God’s will? The objection usually comes down to the fact that no loving God could ever allow us to go through such suffering. I humbly submit that this is a human way of looking at things, and we cannot begin to fathom what God has in mind. I can say with 100% certainty that no matter what you are facing today, it is not because God does not love you. Jesus went to the cross and died for you, that’s how much He loves you! No matter what you are facing, do not let go of that cross and knowing your Saviour bled and died for you!
So, we pray in humble submission to God’s will and purpose. We pray to surrender to God and what He wants for our lives. We are free to ask for whatever we wish, understanding that only His will shall be accomplished.
I close with this. Prayer is not primarily about asking God to do things for us, it is about building our relationship with Him. Our praise and thanksgiving should always outweigh our petition. God is love, and He loves you, and He loves to hear your prayers and loves to answer them according to His good, pleasing and perfect will. Amen.
Andy Brown 