Prayer as a Privilege

The apostle John gives us wonderful guidance in prayer. "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (1 John 5:14-15). First of all, to pray according to God's will means to pray according to His revealed will in the Bible. Is it God's will in Scripture for His church to grow and advance? Yes it is. We must therefore pray for the advance of the church and for the growth of our individual congregations. Is it God's will in Scripture to increase His church by converting men, women, and children to Christ and to faith in Him? Yes it is. We may therefore pray, we must pray, for the conversion of people in our respective communities.

Do we know when and exactly how God will bring about this growth and these conversions? No, we do not. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). Moses is plain, the things revealed are God's words in Scripture. The secret things are God's plans and purposes. We cannot look into God's hidden counsels. We do not know the details of His intricate plans. Only as God reveals His plans and purposes in His Providential dealings with us do we gain tiny glimpses into His incontrovertible wisdom. As this is the case we can rest in His love and bask in His grace knowing "we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11). Here is that other side of God's will, His sovereign plan.

Everything that takes place within our individual lives, in the world around us, and in the universe in which the tiny sphere of mother earth spins, comes about by the plan of God and by the direction of His all controlling hand. This everything includes your humble prayers and petitions uttered in accordance with the written Word of God as you understand it.

Think this through carefully. God commissions you to pray. "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). "I want the men in every place to pray" (1 Timothy 2:8). "Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray" (James 5:13). As you bow before God in prayer, you do so, not only in accord with various Scriptural injunctions, you do so as a part of God's unfolding Providence. God's hand is upon you. He is closer to you than the air you breathe. "For in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). As you pray for a suffering loved-one, the salvation of a sibling, or biblical societal change God uses your prayers as a part of His means to bring about the ends He seeks in our lives and in His world. Yes, you have "been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." This predestination, God's purposes regarding all things, includes your prayers.

At times, you may consider prayer to be a burden. It often is. It is also much more. Prayer is a great privilege. The God of the universe is pleased to use your prayers as part of His means to bring about the ends He plans for your lives and the lives of those you love.