UGW #5: Prayer Matters!
Understanding God's Will #5:
So prayer really does matter when it comes to making sure that God’s Will happens?
Yes, it does! God hinges a lot of things on our prayers and our choices.
But if we (like Calvinists) believe that God always does whatever He wants regardless of us and that He has preplanned and controls all we do and so we don't get a choice anyway, then we won’t realize how much prayer matters in discerning God’s plans for us and in getting His Will done. And our prayer life will be weak.
And there are examples in the Old Testament that support the necessity of prayer and the fact that it affects whether His Will gets done or not.
In Exodus 23:32, God tells Israel to make no covenant with the people in the land of Canaan after they take possession of it. But in Joshua 9, we read about the Gibeonite deception and how they did make a treaty with these people, believing that they were from a distant land. Joshua 9:14 says that in this instance, Israel “did not inquire of the Lord.”
God’s Will and plan was that they didn’t make a treaty with these people. And I believe that God would have uncovered this deception for Israel and would have warned them not to make a treaty with them ... if they had prayed about it. But they didn’t pray about it, so God’s Will didn’t happen in this case.
[Calvinists will just use the old "But God has two Wills" thing, saying that God can say He wants one thing while causing the opposite, that God's spoken Will was to not make a treaty while His secret Will was that they made a treaty.
Can you see what this does to the character of God!?! To His trustworthiness!?! How can we trust any command He gives us if He might secretly want us to do the opposite of what He told us to do? And if we do the opposite of what He commanded us - such as having an affair even though He's told us to keep the marriage bed pure - then it would have to be that God preplanned/caused us to have an affair to fulfill His secret Will, according to Calvinism. How can you trust a God who lies to us about what He wants us to do and then causes us to disobey Him? Can you see the damage that Calvinism does to God and Gospel Truth!?! And yet they excuse it with "But God is sovereign and can do what He wants." See "Calvinism: Abusing God's Sovereignty To Defend Its Heresy."]
And likewise, 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 says this “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
Was it God’s Will that all this happened in Saul’s life? Or did Saul have some responsibility in all this, and did lack of prayer and obedience have an effect on what happened to him? “Saul died because ... he did not keep the word of the Lord ... and did not inquire of the Lord.”
For years, I have lived with the idea that because God is all-powerful and sovereign, He will always do whatever He wants, so I really never understood the purpose and power of prayer. I used to see prayer the way that I have heard numerous people (generally Calvinists) describe it: “We are supposed to pray because God told us to pray. Prayer is important just because it shows that we are dependent on God, and it draws us closer to Him because we are spending time with Him.”
That’s all. It has no more effect than just showing our dependence and building our relationship with Him. Because after all, He does whatever He wants to do anyway, right? And everything that happens is because He wanted it and caused it, right? So really, our prayers are just formalities and for our benefit, right?
Wrong!
I think that this is one of Satan’s most effective tools. Because if he can convince people that their prayers aren’t really necessary because God is so in control that He’ll always just do whatever He wants to do anyway and that everything that happens is because God wanted it, planned it, and caused it, then the church will be ineffectual, lacking the kind of prayers and obedience that are necessary to battle the forces of evil and to get God’s Will done.
We'll simply roll over and say, "Well, God's gonna do what God's gonna do, and I can't do anything about it."
Satan is getting us to minimize the importance of prayer and personal responsibility by convincing us (the Calvinists, that is) that there's no real power in it or purpose for it, that we have no real responsibility or influence in anything.
Because, after all, Calvi-god does everything for us, right?
But the Bible shows us otherwise!
The Bible shows us that our actions and choices and whether we "inquire of the Lord" or not makes a difference. He has not planned everything out for us. We are not puppets.
You see, I was confusing "God is all-powerful" with "An all-powerful God must always be using His power all the time to control everything."
But who am I to tell God how He has to use His power!?!
But contrary to what I used to think (to what Calvinists think), the Bible very clearly shows us an all-powerful God who has chosen to not use His power all the time to control everything. A sovereign God who has chosen to give men the real responsibility to make real choices, without His meticulous control.
God has plans for us, but we have to decide to follow Him or not. And He, in His sovereignty and power, will take whatever we do - our obedience or our disobedience - and work it into His plans. But our obedience or disobedience is not preplanned. It's up to us.
In 1 Samuel 13:13, we see that Samuel tells Saul that if Saul had kept God's commands then God would have established Saul's kingdom permanently.
If Calvinism is true, then either Samuel or God is lying. Because if God preplans/causes all that happens, then He preplanned/caused that Saul would disobey and lose the kingdom, because that's what happened. So there could be no alternative path that hinged on Saul's choice.
So then if Saul's disobedience was predestined and caused by God, how could Samuel say that God would have established Saul's kingdom if Saul obeyed? Either Samuel is lying or God is, telling Saul that there was an alternative path when there really wasn't, that the outcome hinged on his choice when it really didn't.
So either Samuel and God are lying ... or Calvinism isn't true!
And I'm going with "Calvinism isn't true!"
God does not preplan what we do. He does not make us disobey.
But He does know the outcome of whatever choice we will make, and He knows how to incorporate it into His plans. He knew that if Saul obeyed, his kingdom would have been established. And He knew that if Saul disobeyed, his kingdom would be taken away and go to David. God knows where all our potential paths will lead, and He knows how to work it all into something good, into His plans. He is wise enough, powerful enough, and sovereign enough to work many variable factors into His plans, unlike Calvi-god who can't manage any other factors than the things he himself causes.
God requires us to make our choices, to pick the path we go down, to choose obedience or disobedience. And we will have to face the consequences of our choices.
And this is why it's so important to always remember to inquire of the Lord, to seek His guidance and wisdom. Because whether or not we do this will impact the path we choose. He doesn't always cause His Will and His best plans for us to happen, regardless of what we do. He hinges them on us.
If our prayers are just formalities, why would we be told in James 5:16 that “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective”?
If they were just formalities, we would be told something more like this: “Prayer is good for a righteous man because it draws him near to God.”
But it doesn’t say that. It says that prayer is “powerful and effective.”
Powerful and effective for what? I believe that it’s powerful against the kingdom of darkness and that it’s effective for getting God’s Will done.
[Calvinists will say that God causes you to pray to get His Will done. That He "ordains the means and well as the end." So then if Calvi-god is the cause of when we pray then he is also the cause of when we don't pray. He's predestined everything that happens ... for his glory and pleasure and plans (according to the Calvinist). Therefore, praying is just as glorifying and purposeful as not praying. And we don't get a choice about it anyway.
So then, why do Calvinists bother to encourage people to pray? If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. If it's not, it won't.
If a Calvinist preacher encourages you to pray, try saying, "If God wills it then I will. But if He doesn't, then I won't. I'm just gonna wait and see what God forces me to do." And see how they respond.
Do this also when they encourage you to tithe, to evangelize, to volunteer at church, to obey a particular commandment of God's, or to join their Calvinist Indoctrination Classes (like a group-study of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology).
Say "if God wills it, it will happen, but if He doesn't will it, it won't. Who am I to know the mind of God, which one He's planned? Who am I to know if He really wants me to do what He's commanded or if He really wants me to disobey what He's commanded? So let's just wait and see what's predestined, what He causes me to do." ... and watch how quickly they go from "God controls all" to "You are responsible for your choice."
Do you see how self-defeating Calvinism is? How much it minimizes personal responsibility and accountability?]
An example illustrating the necessity of prayer to get God's Will done is in Job 42. In this chapter, we read that God is angry with Job’s friends for not speaking of Him what is right. And He says, “My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.” (Verse 8)
Now, if God intended to forgive them anyway - if it was His Will and what He planned to do - why didn’t He just do it? Why require and wait for Job to pray?
Because prayer is what gets God’s Will done on earth. Because God intends that we, through our choices and obedience and prayers, get His Will done on earth. God's Will was to forgive Job's friends, but God left the responsibility to pray up to Job. And He didn't forgive them until Job prayed, until Job did his part. And this is just how God has chosen to work, even though He could control everything if He wanted to.
1 John 5:14-15: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.”
This verse shows us that His Will (what He desires to have happen) doesn’t just happen because He is all-powerful and can make it happen. We have to pray for it, to seek it. And to obey!
God leaves the responsibility with mankind to put His Will (what He desires to have happen) into motion with our prayers.
But if Calvinism is true, then everything that happens is God's Will, even sin. And therefore, there is no need to "ask anything according to His Will." Because His Will is all that ever happens, with or without us asking for it.
But we are not just commanded to pray because it’s good for us or shows our dependence on God. Prayer actually gets God’s Will done. God wills things in heaven, but it’s man’s job to bring that Will to fruition on earth by our prayers, obedience, and righteous living. And it’s when we ask for something He wants for us that we get it. (But this doesn’t mean that we always get what we ask for. It has to be in line with what God wants for us.)
But the flip-side is also true. If we don’t ask for what He wants for us, we won’t get it. He doesn’t lead us down His "best path for us" if we refuse to “inquire of the Lord.” As James 4:2 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.”
If we ask for something He doesn’t want, it won’t happen. But also if we don’t pray for and seek out what He does want, it won’t happen. Our prayers and obedience have an effect on getting God’s Will done or not.
Of course, when God has plans, He will work them out one way or another. If we won't be obedient, He'll find someone else who will be. So it's not that God's overall plans don't get done; it's just that we miss out on it and will pay the price for our disobedience and for not seeking His guidance in prayer.
And there are times that God does whatever He wants, apart from us. And yes, He does still take care of us and provide for us without our needing to ask for every little thing. I am not going to the extreme of saying that God does nothing and gives nothing unless we pray for it. I am saying that, in general and in many ways, He has chosen to work with and through man's prayers and cooperation to accomplish His plans on earth. And the Bible is full of examples like this.
I think that, yes, prayer is crucial in acknowledging our dependence on God and building our relationship with Him (through honesty and transparency). But it goes so much further than just being a show of dependence and drawing us closer. It gets His Will done!
And this is just how He has chosen to do things, to give mankind a certain level of free-will and responsibility. And contrary to Calvinist claims that He must always be using His power all the time to control everything that happens or else He can't be God, He can do it this way if He wants ... to because He alone is sovereign over all and can decide how to use His sovereign power.
For the posts in this series, see the "Understanding God's Will" label in the sidebar (or find the original series, without the Calvinism info, by clicking here).
So prayer really does matter when it comes to making sure that God’s Will happens?
Yes, it does! God hinges a lot of things on our prayers and our choices.
But if we (like Calvinists) believe that God always does whatever He wants regardless of us and that He has preplanned and controls all we do and so we don't get a choice anyway, then we won’t realize how much prayer matters in discerning God’s plans for us and in getting His Will done. And our prayer life will be weak.
And there are examples in the Old Testament that support the necessity of prayer and the fact that it affects whether His Will gets done or not.
In Exodus 23:32, God tells Israel to make no covenant with the people in the land of Canaan after they take possession of it. But in Joshua 9, we read about the Gibeonite deception and how they did make a treaty with these people, believing that they were from a distant land. Joshua 9:14 says that in this instance, Israel “did not inquire of the Lord.”
God’s Will and plan was that they didn’t make a treaty with these people. And I believe that God would have uncovered this deception for Israel and would have warned them not to make a treaty with them ... if they had prayed about it. But they didn’t pray about it, so God’s Will didn’t happen in this case.
[Calvinists will just use the old "But God has two Wills" thing, saying that God can say He wants one thing while causing the opposite, that God's spoken Will was to not make a treaty while His secret Will was that they made a treaty.
Can you see what this does to the character of God!?! To His trustworthiness!?! How can we trust any command He gives us if He might secretly want us to do the opposite of what He told us to do? And if we do the opposite of what He commanded us - such as having an affair even though He's told us to keep the marriage bed pure - then it would have to be that God preplanned/caused us to have an affair to fulfill His secret Will, according to Calvinism. How can you trust a God who lies to us about what He wants us to do and then causes us to disobey Him? Can you see the damage that Calvinism does to God and Gospel Truth!?! And yet they excuse it with "But God is sovereign and can do what He wants." See "Calvinism: Abusing God's Sovereignty To Defend Its Heresy."]
And likewise, 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 says this “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
Was it God’s Will that all this happened in Saul’s life? Or did Saul have some responsibility in all this, and did lack of prayer and obedience have an effect on what happened to him? “Saul died because ... he did not keep the word of the Lord ... and did not inquire of the Lord.”
For years, I have lived with the idea that because God is all-powerful and sovereign, He will always do whatever He wants, so I really never understood the purpose and power of prayer. I used to see prayer the way that I have heard numerous people (generally Calvinists) describe it: “We are supposed to pray because God told us to pray. Prayer is important just because it shows that we are dependent on God, and it draws us closer to Him because we are spending time with Him.”
That’s all. It has no more effect than just showing our dependence and building our relationship with Him. Because after all, He does whatever He wants to do anyway, right? And everything that happens is because He wanted it and caused it, right? So really, our prayers are just formalities and for our benefit, right?
Wrong!
I think that this is one of Satan’s most effective tools. Because if he can convince people that their prayers aren’t really necessary because God is so in control that He’ll always just do whatever He wants to do anyway and that everything that happens is because God wanted it, planned it, and caused it, then the church will be ineffectual, lacking the kind of prayers and obedience that are necessary to battle the forces of evil and to get God’s Will done.
We'll simply roll over and say, "Well, God's gonna do what God's gonna do, and I can't do anything about it."
Satan is getting us to minimize the importance of prayer and personal responsibility by convincing us (the Calvinists, that is) that there's no real power in it or purpose for it, that we have no real responsibility or influence in anything.
Because, after all, Calvi-god does everything for us, right?
But the Bible shows us otherwise!
The Bible shows us that our actions and choices and whether we "inquire of the Lord" or not makes a difference. He has not planned everything out for us. We are not puppets.
You see, I was confusing "God is all-powerful" with "An all-powerful God must always be using His power all the time to control everything."
But who am I to tell God how He has to use His power!?!
But contrary to what I used to think (to what Calvinists think), the Bible very clearly shows us an all-powerful God who has chosen to not use His power all the time to control everything. A sovereign God who has chosen to give men the real responsibility to make real choices, without His meticulous control.
God has plans for us, but we have to decide to follow Him or not. And He, in His sovereignty and power, will take whatever we do - our obedience or our disobedience - and work it into His plans. But our obedience or disobedience is not preplanned. It's up to us.
In 1 Samuel 13:13, we see that Samuel tells Saul that if Saul had kept God's commands then God would have established Saul's kingdom permanently.
If Calvinism is true, then either Samuel or God is lying. Because if God preplans/causes all that happens, then He preplanned/caused that Saul would disobey and lose the kingdom, because that's what happened. So there could be no alternative path that hinged on Saul's choice.
So then if Saul's disobedience was predestined and caused by God, how could Samuel say that God would have established Saul's kingdom if Saul obeyed? Either Samuel is lying or God is, telling Saul that there was an alternative path when there really wasn't, that the outcome hinged on his choice when it really didn't.
So either Samuel and God are lying ... or Calvinism isn't true!
And I'm going with "Calvinism isn't true!"
God does not preplan what we do. He does not make us disobey.
But He does know the outcome of whatever choice we will make, and He knows how to incorporate it into His plans. He knew that if Saul obeyed, his kingdom would have been established. And He knew that if Saul disobeyed, his kingdom would be taken away and go to David. God knows where all our potential paths will lead, and He knows how to work it all into something good, into His plans. He is wise enough, powerful enough, and sovereign enough to work many variable factors into His plans, unlike Calvi-god who can't manage any other factors than the things he himself causes.
God requires us to make our choices, to pick the path we go down, to choose obedience or disobedience. And we will have to face the consequences of our choices.
And this is why it's so important to always remember to inquire of the Lord, to seek His guidance and wisdom. Because whether or not we do this will impact the path we choose. He doesn't always cause His Will and His best plans for us to happen, regardless of what we do. He hinges them on us.
If our prayers are just formalities, why would we be told in James 5:16 that “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective”?
If they were just formalities, we would be told something more like this: “Prayer is good for a righteous man because it draws him near to God.”
But it doesn’t say that. It says that prayer is “powerful and effective.”
Powerful and effective for what? I believe that it’s powerful against the kingdom of darkness and that it’s effective for getting God’s Will done.
[Calvinists will say that God causes you to pray to get His Will done. That He "ordains the means and well as the end." So then if Calvi-god is the cause of when we pray then he is also the cause of when we don't pray. He's predestined everything that happens ... for his glory and pleasure and plans (according to the Calvinist). Therefore, praying is just as glorifying and purposeful as not praying. And we don't get a choice about it anyway.
So then, why do Calvinists bother to encourage people to pray? If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. If it's not, it won't.
If a Calvinist preacher encourages you to pray, try saying, "If God wills it then I will. But if He doesn't, then I won't. I'm just gonna wait and see what God forces me to do." And see how they respond.
Do this also when they encourage you to tithe, to evangelize, to volunteer at church, to obey a particular commandment of God's, or to join their Calvinist Indoctrination Classes (like a group-study of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology).
Say "if God wills it, it will happen, but if He doesn't will it, it won't. Who am I to know the mind of God, which one He's planned? Who am I to know if He really wants me to do what He's commanded or if He really wants me to disobey what He's commanded? So let's just wait and see what's predestined, what He causes me to do." ... and watch how quickly they go from "God controls all" to "You are responsible for your choice."
Do you see how self-defeating Calvinism is? How much it minimizes personal responsibility and accountability?]
An example illustrating the necessity of prayer to get God's Will done is in Job 42. In this chapter, we read that God is angry with Job’s friends for not speaking of Him what is right. And He says, “My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.” (Verse 8)
Now, if God intended to forgive them anyway - if it was His Will and what He planned to do - why didn’t He just do it? Why require and wait for Job to pray?
Because prayer is what gets God’s Will done on earth. Because God intends that we, through our choices and obedience and prayers, get His Will done on earth. God's Will was to forgive Job's friends, but God left the responsibility to pray up to Job. And He didn't forgive them until Job prayed, until Job did his part. And this is just how God has chosen to work, even though He could control everything if He wanted to.
1 John 5:14-15: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.”
This verse shows us that His Will (what He desires to have happen) doesn’t just happen because He is all-powerful and can make it happen. We have to pray for it, to seek it. And to obey!
God leaves the responsibility with mankind to put His Will (what He desires to have happen) into motion with our prayers.
But if Calvinism is true, then everything that happens is God's Will, even sin. And therefore, there is no need to "ask anything according to His Will." Because His Will is all that ever happens, with or without us asking for it.
But we are not just commanded to pray because it’s good for us or shows our dependence on God. Prayer actually gets God’s Will done. God wills things in heaven, but it’s man’s job to bring that Will to fruition on earth by our prayers, obedience, and righteous living. And it’s when we ask for something He wants for us that we get it. (But this doesn’t mean that we always get what we ask for. It has to be in line with what God wants for us.)
But the flip-side is also true. If we don’t ask for what He wants for us, we won’t get it. He doesn’t lead us down His "best path for us" if we refuse to “inquire of the Lord.” As James 4:2 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.”
If we ask for something He doesn’t want, it won’t happen. But also if we don’t pray for and seek out what He does want, it won’t happen. Our prayers and obedience have an effect on getting God’s Will done or not.
Of course, when God has plans, He will work them out one way or another. If we won't be obedient, He'll find someone else who will be. So it's not that God's overall plans don't get done; it's just that we miss out on it and will pay the price for our disobedience and for not seeking His guidance in prayer.
And there are times that God does whatever He wants, apart from us. And yes, He does still take care of us and provide for us without our needing to ask for every little thing. I am not going to the extreme of saying that God does nothing and gives nothing unless we pray for it. I am saying that, in general and in many ways, He has chosen to work with and through man's prayers and cooperation to accomplish His plans on earth. And the Bible is full of examples like this.
I think that, yes, prayer is crucial in acknowledging our dependence on God and building our relationship with Him (through honesty and transparency). But it goes so much further than just being a show of dependence and drawing us closer. It gets His Will done!
And this is just how He has chosen to do things, to give mankind a certain level of free-will and responsibility. And contrary to Calvinist claims that He must always be using His power all the time to control everything that happens or else He can't be God, He can do it this way if He wants ... to because He alone is sovereign over all and can decide how to use His sovereign power.
For the posts in this series, see the "Understanding God's Will" label in the sidebar (or find the original series, without the Calvinism info, by clicking here).
