There would be no use in praying if God were not in control of all things. Today, R.C. Sproul considers why the truth of our sovereign God should motivate us to pray regularly and fervently. Get R.C. Sproul’s teaching series Prayer on DVD, plus lifetime digital access to the messages and study guide, for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3535/prayer Meet Today’s Teacher: R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
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In His sovereignty, He has so designed His plan of salvation as to work through the prayers of His people. And that's why the Bible again and again encourages us, not only encourages us, but commands us to be actively involved in prayer.
Have you ever asked the question, what's the point in praying? If it's true that God is sovereign over all things, that there isn't even one maverick molecule, then why pray? That's the question Ursi Sproul will tackle today on this Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind.
Prayer is part of the Christian life, so it's vital that we understand prayer biblically and address the relationship between God's sovereignty and our prayer lives.
But before we get to this final message in Dr. Sproul's series, please know that today is the final day that you can request this series on DVD with digital access to the messages and study guide when you give a gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. And remember, this offer won't be repeated next Saturday. Well, here's Dr. Sproul on providence and prayer.
Earlier in our study of prayer, I made mention that our prayer life is intimately related to the providence of God. And we talked about how it's God's provisions that we are praying about and for when we entreat Him in our communication of prayer.
But when we look at the doctrine of divine providence, we recognize that God governs the entire universe and all things in it, and that He is sovereign over everything that takes place. And as soon as we begin to wrestle with the sovereignty of God over His creation and really examine
the fine points of the doctrine of providence, one of the first questions we encounter is, well, if God is sovereign, And if He ordains everything that comes to pass in some sense, what use is there in praying? Why should we pray at all? I get that question all the time.
And of course, the simple answer, the easy answer, which doesn't satisfy too many people, is that God not only ordains the ends of of the universe and of human history, but He also ordains the means to those ends. And just like He sovereignly has a plan of salvation that He is unfolding in history, part of the way in which He works out His plan of redemption is through the preaching of the Word.
It's God who brings the increase to the preaching of the Word, but He uses that means for His end. And so, therefore, we have a responsibility in light of divine sovereignty and in light of His providence to be engaged in preaching. Well, the same thing can be said for prayer. God works in and through the prayers of His people.
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