Why Should I Pray If God Has Already Decided?

Last week, I was playing a video game with my youngest son, Hayden. It was getting close to bed time and without saying a word Hayden turned off the game and said it was time for bed. I thought it was kind of strange because normally I would have to tell him this myself and be the bad guy who shuts the game down. Interestingly, he said that he already knew it was bed time and that I would turn off the game, so he decided to do it himself. The funny thing is that if he had asked I would have probably let him play a little longer since it wasn’t a school night.

Some Christians think that God works in a similar manner. That God has sovereignty like that of a authoritative parent. The parent’s power over their children is conceived primarily as an exercise of “will”. On the other hand, Methodists and other Wesleyans, believe God’s relationship more like a loving parent. The parent’s power over their children is conceived primarily as an exercise of love, and from this Wesleyan perspective it is inconceivable that a loving parent would eternally decree what will happen in the life of their children.

What we are talking about here is predestination versus universal grace. Predestination is the doctrine that all events have been willed and determined by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of salvation. Methodists don’t believe that. Instead we believe in universal grace, that is a grace that is at work for all, available to all, and decision of all. Meaning God wants what is best for us but we are given the opportunity to choose this. We call this free will.

So, when we pray, we do so believing that what can and will happen has not yet been determined. This understanding of faith makes what Paul write in Romans 8 ever the more interesting. One set of often quoted verses concerning God’s will and predestination is Romans 8:28-29, which says this, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” This verse and the following seem to make it pretty clear that God has predestined for some to have the “good” worked for them in life, right? Wrong. Predestination here is the inclusion of ALL people into God’s family. Meaning God has planned redemption from the very beginning and has chosen Christ as the road to it.

Paul draws on familial language, identifying the Son of God as the "firstborn" of many brothers and sisters (v. 29). We, every person who has ever been, are God’s children and have been predestined to be God’s children. God has chosen to love us all and in that love we have the opportunity to live for the “good”. It doesn't mean that all things that happen in our lives will be good and as a matter of fact Paul is writing this letter to people who are not experiencing “good” in their lives. The people that Paul is writing to are experiencing persecution and suffering. This passage which is often misunderstood is a passage to offer encouragement to people to know that although life may be difficult at the moment, God is aT work towards the “good”.

So, this is why we pray. We don’t believe that God has already determined what will and won’t happen for our lives, but we hope that God is working for the good of our lives and we will be able to see it. The result of prayer we aim for is not about convincing God to do what we want God to do, it is about convincing ourselves to do what God wants us to do. Being heirs along with Christ does not exempt us from suffering, instead it calls us to living exceptionally.

Join us this Sunday for worship at 8:30 and 10:45 AM as we continue this conversation.

In God’s grip,

Pastor Chuck Church