Chapter 1: What is the relationship between God's sovereignty and prayer?
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 R.C. 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 on prayer, please know that today is the final day that you can request digital access to this complete series and its study guide, along with your own bonded leather edition of The Valley of Vision when you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org. This offer will not 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 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.
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Chapter 2: Why should we pray if God is in control?
And so it's not that the New Testament says, well, God is sovereign, so you can just go back and put up your heels and take a nap and don't be engaged in preaching or in praying or in any activity. On the contrary, it's because God is sovereign
that we get so excited about the whole role of prayer because 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. Well, then the question comes, well, do you mean then, R.C. ? that prayer changes God's mind.
I get that question a lot. Let's look at that. Does prayer change God's mind? I say, well, if we ask the question in that manner, obviously to ask that question is to answer it. And the only answer I can give to it is not simply by saying, no, prayer doesn't change God's mind. The only real answer I can give to that question is, of course not.
What could be further from your imagination than that your prayer or my prayer would have the power or the influence to change the mind of the Almighty? I mean, just think about that for just two minutes, and you will see that to ask the question is to answer it. Because what would have to happen for God to change His mind?
What kind of a view of God do we have when we assume that God has worked out a plan, and He has His plan A, and He's about to implement this plan that grows out of His perfect knowledge of His absolute wisdom, and his total righteousness and integrity. So he's utterly incapable of having an evil design, and he's incapable of having a foolish plan, isn't he?
And so he has his plan A, and he's going to implement it, and then all of a sudden, something he hasn't anticipated takes place. You begin to pray, and you say, well, God, could you please change this plan a little bit? I would prefer that you do it a different way. Have you considered this, and have you considered that?
And suddenly, you're God's guidance counselor, and you get him to change his mind because you persuade him, that his first plan was not a good one, or you give him information that he lacked before you talked to him.
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Chapter 3: Does prayer change God's mind?
Now think about it. What kind of a God do you have if you think that you have to inform him of the details of what's going on down here? Well, the Scriptures tell us that the Lord knows what you need before you ask it. And what's the conclusion? Therefore, you don't need to bother to ask? Isn't that amazing? That the Father, who knows everything about you, He knows every hair on your head.
He knows every thought in your mind, every word before it's even formed on your lips. He knows what you're going to say before you say it. There's nowhere that you can escape from His presence. He knows you inside and out. He knows what you need, but he still says, come and tell me what you need. Now, beloved, when he does that, that is not for his benefit.
It is not for his education, and it's not for his edification. Who is it for? The answer is obvious, isn't it? but he asks us to come and tell him what our concerns are and our needs. He's inviting us into the sacred presence of the Almighty in heaven itself and to say, come and talk to me for our benefit.
Because we walk away from that communication, from that experience of speaking our needs and our concerns before the Lord, encouraged and at peace, because we have been with him in that discourse. But let's not flatter ourselves to the place where we think that our wisdom is greater than his wisdom or that our knowledge is such that we can give him information that he didn't previously have.
Well, again, when I give that kind of an answer to people, to the question, does prayer change God's mind when I say, no, it doesn't change God's mind because God's mind knew what you were going to pray before you prayed. And that knowledge was factored in to his plan all along. Well, then you say, well, then again, that sounds like it's all programmed and there's no reason to pray.
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Chapter 4: What does the Bible say about the efficacy of prayer?
Well, let's ask the question another way. Not, does prayer change the mind of God? But does prayer change things? Does prayer have any impact on what actually comes to pass? And the answer to that biblically is yes, and not just a simple yes, but a by all means. Let's take a moment to look at James' teaching on this subject in the fifth chapter of his book,
Beginning in verse 13, we read these words. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church. Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain. And it didn't rain on the land for three years and six months. He prayed again. And heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Now, first of all, you have to understand something about the kind of literature that I just read from this book. The book of James is called the only book that fits the genre or the literary category of wisdom literature in the New Testament.
Chapter 5: How does James' teaching inform our understanding of prayer?
It's very Hebrew in its orientation. You don't get long, abstract, developed arguments in James. Rather, you get, for the most part, aphorisms, short, pithy statements that incorporate truths that are given without all the detailed qualifications that you might find in the didactic literature, for example, in the style of the Apostle Paul.
So you have to be careful when you read this because some read it and says, well, wait a minute. He says the prayer of faith will save the sick. The Lord will raise them up as if this were an absolute promise to every inquiry. We know in the New Testament that there were the prayers of the saints to which God said no.
For example, by inference, we'll take a look at what happened when Peter was thrown into prison. And the disciples gathered together to pray fervently for Peter's rescue. Do you remember that event? And as they were praying, there's a knock at the door. Somebody goes to the door and opens the door and sees Peter standing there. And what happens?
closes the door in his face, said, Peter's ghost is out there. I mean, God answers the prayer, and when the answer to prayer is right before their eyes, they still don't believe it. But there is where we see how the early church prayed for the release of Peter, and God answered that. But the same narrative tells us about the martyrdom of James.
Are we to believe that the early leaders of the church didn't pray for James? We're told in Paul's epistles of those who had been sick and had not been healed. Even Paul talked about how he had prayed several times for relief from the thorn of the flesh, whatever that was. And God's response to the apostle was what? My grace is sufficient for you.
You see, sometimes God says no, even when we are sick. But at the same time, what James is encouraging is he's saying, hey, we understand. That's a given that God doesn't always say yes, but don't miss out on the opportunity.
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Chapter 6: What examples from the Bible illustrate the power of prayer?
Pray for the sick. Pray for those who suffer because God does answer those prayers. God does heal the sick. He does relieve our suffering. but it's not cast as an absolute guarantee. If that were the case, I mean, keep in mind that every Christian who lived in this world before, let's say, just to be on the safe side, 1880 has died because Christians die. Not just unbelievers, but Christians die.
And when Christians get sick, there are always Christians that pray for Christians that get sick. And at some point, the Christians die. And that was true of every apostle in the New Testament. There is no absolute guarantee that Christians are going to escape suffering, pain, and disease, and so on. We know that.
But nevertheless, we still are to be encouraged because there's a massive impact from that prayer that God does at times heal people and restore them and also alleviates their suffering. Sometimes he says yes. Sometimes he says no. Now, one of the things that's really misappropriated from this text is that James said it's the prayer of faith that will save the sick.
And so we've had a whole theology emerge in the popular culture associated with so-called faith healing, so that if you are not rescued from your malady and delivered from your disease, then obviously the problem is you didn't have the faith. And if you have true faith, you'll never be sick. You'll always be cured and so on. God always wills healing. You hear that kind of theology.
You just have to name it and claim it and so on. This is such a gross distortion of the total truth. picture of what prayer is supposed to be and do in the Bible. I've had people tell me that if you pray for somebody and you say, if it be thy will, O Lord, please raise this person up, that that is a sin.
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Chapter 7: How should we approach prayer in light of God's will?
It's an affront against God to say, if it is God's will, because God always wills that. I say, wait a minute. If it is a lack of faith to say, if it be thy will, What does that say about the posture of Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane? The greatest teacher we have on how to pray is Christ himself.
And when he was faced with his great passion, his ultimate suffering, that none of us can imagine what it was like to have the cup of God's wrath set before him. We can't imagine that. And he, in agony, sweating beads of blood, is on his face before God in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he says, O Lord, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me. Was that an act of unbelief on Jesus' part?
By no means. And he hastened to add, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done, which is also mentioned by James, those two little words, Deo Volente. Don't say that you're going to do something next week or next month or next year without saying at the same time, Deo Volente. God willing, I will see you next week. But God may not be willing.
God may take me between now and then, or God may put me on my back and incapacitate me so that the plans that I have prepared for next week will not come to pass because God doesn't will it. You see, faithful prayer, true faith, what faith is in its essence is trust, and the prayer of faith is a prayer that trusts God for the outcome, even if he says no.
That's what Jesus teaches us in Gethsemane. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. So if you want me to take that cup, I'm going to trust you while I'm drinking the cup. That's the posture of Job. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. And so again, we go back to the principle, the premise I've been repeating, that when we pray, remember who it is we're talking to.
Remember who it is whose will is sovereign.
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Chapter 8: What are the benefits of fervent and effectual prayer?
And God's will does not always agree with my will. And aren't you glad? because if it did, that would make me God. And I guarantee you, I would be an extremely poor substitute for the one who already holds that position. So saying, if it be thy will, is not an act of unbelief. It is an act of trust, trusting in God and in his will. Nevertheless, having said all of that,
Again, James will not allow us to retreat into fatalism where we just say, que sera, sera, what will be will be, and I don't have to be engaged in serious prayers. But he goes on to say, the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man avails what? Everything? No. But it avails much. And that answers the question, does prayer change things? Yes. a whole lot of things. Does it avail for anything?
Yes, it avails much. But again, he doesn't say the cavalier, casual, insipid prayer of an unrighteous person avails much. It's the fervent prayer. that avails, the fervent prayer of a righteous person, a righteous person relatively speaking. So what about fervency?
Well, it's not that we have a Richter scale that measures the emotional intensity of every prayer, but fervency means praying with some degree of passion, and that passion should be in proportionate relationship to the severity of the need and the seriousness of the thing.
It's not that we just scream and yell and carry on in church on Sunday morning so that we can exhibit passion over who's going to win the football game that afternoon. No. Passionate prayer should be fitting serious and severe needs.
Now we see another commentary on the significance of the fervency of prayer in the parable of the unjust judge, or sometimes called the parable of the importunate widow. You remember the story. Jesus says there was a judge in a certain city who regarded neither God nor man. And there was this poor woman who had been wronged, and she came to the gate seeking justice.
But the judge had no time for her. He was too busy. He didn't want to be bothered with her. But she kept knocking at his door. She kept asking to be heard. She persisted in her prayer until finally he couldn't stand it anymore. And just to get her off his back, to get rid of this pest, He heard her case and delivered her. And what does Jesus say? What's the point of the parable?
Jesus doesn't say, okay, just like this woman pestered this corrupt judge until she finally got what she wanted, so you have to pester the unjust judge who rules heaven and earth until you can finally get a hearing. That's not his point. His point is this. If even corrupt judges in this world
From time to time, we'll hear somebody's prayer, how much more will the true judge of heaven and earth, who has no corruption in him at all, hear your prayers? And he asked the rhetorical question, will not God vindicate his elect who cry out to him day and night? Again, Jesus is talking about the efficacy of prayer.
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