What's Prayer Got To Do With It?

We believe that God is Sovereign. Not just “sovereign” with a lowercase “s,” as in “mostly sovereign” or “humanly sovereign.” We’ve seen “sovereign” leaders and they’re not Sovereign. God falls in that unique category of uppercase Sovereign. He “does whatever pleases Him” (Psa 115:3). He “works all things according to the purpose of His will” (Eph 1:11). We can’t even speak unless God decrees it (Lam 3:37). We make plans; God’s purpose prevails (Prov 16:9; Prov 19:21). He controls governments (Psa 22:28; Prov 21:1). He works all things together for good (Rom 8:28). So … if God is always at work, always in charge, always accomplishing His will … why pray? What’s prayer got to do with anything?

Well, of course, the easy answer is, “It’s a command, so do it” (Psa 105:1-4; Jer 29:12; Matt 6:6; 1 Thess 5:16-18; Eph 6:18; Luke 18:1; Php 4:6-7; 1 Tim 2:8 … shall I go on?). So, we do it. But what can we expect in prayer?

Prayer is not meant to override God’s eternal purpose or manipulate Him into action. It’s meant to be our opportunity to take part in His work. It’s meant to be our part of the relationship where you “let your requests be made known to God” (Php 4:6). It’s not about making Him act; it’s about letting Him be to us what He intends to be … our Father (Matt 6:6), our friend (John 15:15), our advocate (1 John 2:1) … and more. God has ordained the ends and the means, and He has ordained prayer as part of the means, so we pray to participate in what He’s doing.

Prayer changes our hearts, not God’s heart. Prayer reminds us of our dependence on Him. It softens our hearts when we’re rigid and comforts our hearts when we’re worried and strengthens our hearts when we’re weak. It is relational. It’s not a formula or a procedure; it’s part of our personal connection with God. We’re not telling Him what He doesn’t know or pressuring Him to do what He doesn’t intend or manipulating Him to do what we want. We’re communing with Him.

Prayer is a weapon He has placed in our hands. It accompanies and sustains the armor of God (Eph 6:18) and destroys strongholds (2 Cor 10:3-4). Prayer is powerful (James 5:16-18). Prayer is effective (James 5:16; Acts 12:5-11; Psa 18:6).

We might tend to think of God as our divine butler and ask or actually demand that He do what we want and even castigate Him for not obeying our requests. That constitutes a serious misunderstanding of prayer. In prayer we talk with God and our hearts are changed in many ways. In prayer we commune with God and our experience of relationship with Him deepens. We are commanded to pray. I’d suggest that His Sovereignty is a very good reason to pray. We can always count on Him to do what’s best. We are commanded to pray, but prayer is more than obedience. It is communion with the God who rules all things wisely and well. His sovereignty does not make prayer unnecessary; it makes prayer hopeful. Because He is Sovereign, we can pray with confidence that He hears, He cares, and He will always do what is best.