Why Pray in Light of God's Sovereignty?: Part 3 of 5

Source: crosswalk.com

So far, we have considered two reasons to pray in light of God's Sovereignty. Today we will consider another reason...

1. God Has Commanded Us to Pray
2. Jesus Modeled A Life of Prayer

Reason #3 God is Able to Respond to our Prayers 

Rather than hindering the prayers of believers, the Sovereignty of God ought to motivate them to pray, because

“Prayer grows from the certainty of God’s Omnipotence and Sovereignty” (Hunter, The God Who Hears, 47).

Put another way, if God does not rule in absolute Sovereignty over His
Creation and is not able to accomplish whatever He Desires in and through it, why
bother requesting anything of Him--since He is unable to deliver?

In other words-the Questions should not be, “If God is Sovereign, why pray?” 
The Question should be, “If God is not Absolutely Sovereign, Why pray?” 

To illustrate, if a five-year-old boy repeatedly asks his mother to make it stop raining on a Saturday morning, this may create a precious memory, but in the final analysis the boy’s request is misguided. As much as his mother might like to alter the weather, she simply lacks the ability to do so, and therefore to request this of
her makes little sense. But when the children of God come before the Throne of Grace, they come with the full assurance that their Heavenly Father is able to accomplish whatever He is pleased to do- because nothing is too difficult for Him. That Truth is a powerful motivation to pray.

“To be worth praying to,” Hunter writes, “God has first of all got to have the Power to do what we ask. Second, He must have Sovereignty over Creation to do what He wants to do” (The God Who Hears, 48). Believers must come to their God presenting to Him their requests because He has both the Authority and the Ability to grant what they have requested in their petitions and intercessory prayers.

**Please note: This prayer series must be credited to Dr. Matt Waymeyer and his postings on the subject.  Dr. Waymeyer is an Instructor of Bible Exposition and New Testament at Master's Seminary.  I have reread his teachings on the subject of prayer and God's sovereignty for several years now and they continue to inform and bless my prayer life.  Prior to posting this series, I have emailed Dr. Waymeyer and received his complete permission to use his material in any way that I might find helpful for this blog. **