The Prayer Problem

I will be honest. Prayer has always been a bit of a problem for me. Not a big one. More of a mental dilemma. You see, given God's Omniscience and His Sovereignty, prayer seems, logically speaking, problematic. I mean, you can't tell God, "Hey, what about this?" and expect Him to say, "What? Oh, my, I hadn't thought of that." Nor can you talk Him into your point of view. "Well, I wasn't going to let you have that, but since you demand it, I will." And since I believe that the Elect are chosen before time (e.g., Eph 1:4), how do you even pray that someone might be saved? I mean, isn't that already determined? So what is prayer all about?

I've come to some conclusions on the subject, but they're mostly just mine. Tell me what you think.

I've decided to go from the known to the unknown rather than vice versa. Here's what I mean. We do not know what God will do. We don't know what His plans are for us tomorrow, who are the ones who are elect, or the like. That's all unknown to us. "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever" (Deut 29:29). So I'm going to go with "the things revealed" rather than "the secret things".

So what has been revealed? Well, we know that we are commanded to pray. Paul writes without any obfuscation, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). We are commanded, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Phil 4:6). Why? Doesn't God know? Does God need my guidance here? No, no, these are not the right questions. He said it; we must do it. We are commanded to pray, so we must.

What else do we know? We know that prayer is effective. Scripture says, "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2). Effect: "Do not have." Cause: "Do not ask." Pretty clear. James also wrote, "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16). Pretty clear. Jesus Himself told us, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you" (John 16:23). Now, we can question the nuances and wonder about "anything" and "in My name", but what is unavoidable is that prayer is effective.

Knowing that we are commanded to pray and that this prayer will be effective, it seems a given that we should pray. "But, what about God's Omniscience and Sovereignty? What about Election?" Sure, sure, all reasonable questions. Except God doesn't answer them so I won't. I don't know how it all works together; I just know it does. I know that "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him" (Matt 6:8) and "Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all" (Psa 139:4). And maybe, just maybe, that is where the answer lies. God knew what I would pray and decided before time to answer it as part of His design. That's fine. It doesn't change the certainty that I am commanded to pray, that prayer is effective, and that in obeying in this effective manner I can participate in the works of God. So I think I'll just set aside those logical dilemmas and obey.