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The author is unable to quote or reference a single Bible verse, yet he purports to teach about prayer. How can one teach about a biblical doctrine without the Bible? On this basis alone we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
The author is unable to quote or reference a single Bible verse, yet he purports to teach about prayer. How can one teach about a biblical doctrine without the Bible? On this basis alone we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
Further, the author doesn't think God will change His course of action based on someone's prayer. This is so obviously false that we must wonder about the author's competency.
In Genesis 18:20-33 Abraham negotiated with God over the fate of Sodom.
In Genesis 18:20-33 Abraham negotiated with God over the fate of Sodom.
Moses was able to the persuade God not to destroy His stiff-necked people:
Ex. 32:14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
The Psalmist expected God to relent:
Ps. 90:13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.
Which He did:
Ps. 106:45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
He promises to relent if people repent:
Je. 18:7-8 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
Je. 26:3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.
Jeremiah prophesied that God would stop what He intended to do:
Je. 26:13 Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you.
So why do so many people think God will not change His mind? Probably because of verses like these:
Nu. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?1Sa. 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”
In every case the Hebrew word for "repent" is nacham, to be sorry, console oneself.
It is interesting that the Bible itself tells us that He does relent yet He does not relent. What are we to make of this?
The nuances are important. In every verse that tells us God does not change His mind it is in comparison to man. We would conclude from this that the way God does things is not like how man does things.
Let's therefore insert some clarifying language into the Numbers verse:
Nu. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie (like men do), nor a son of man, that he should change his mind (in the manner of men). Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?
We begin to see the true nature of these statements, that God is not capricious or arbitrary. He is not like men in His ways. They are higher:
Is. 55:9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Thus it is quite possible that God changes His mind in some sense, but it's nothing like what men do or how men think.
The author reasons that the possibility of God changing His mind means His sovereignty would be compromised. But he doesn't tell us why or how. In fact, God's sovereignty is unaffected by the possibility of Him changing His mind. He still does as He pleases, even if He does something else other than what He originally purposed. God is still God, even when He has mercy and relents.
Moving on, the author offers three ways that God deals with prayer. However, he does not address the fact that God might indeed answer prayers exactly as prayed.
Lastly, the author has a deterministic view of how our lives work. He mentions the Elect, that is, those who are predestined for salvation. He says that God will go to some great lengths to ensure the elect get to where they need to go, but doesn't tell us how this in any way changes things. Of course He sent Jesus to die for our sins, which is extraordinary, but what other things would God do that would be considered "great lengths?"
The author insists it's not a reason for complacency. However, if God is sovereign in the sense that everything will happen exactly as He desires, then why would anyone bother to pray, even if it's true that failing to pray might make God do something to lead to some consequences that might wake us up from our malaise. Such a thing does not change election. Prayerlessness has no impact on one's salvation.
Most critically, if someone does pray because he fears God might do something to correct him, well, that's not a feature of faith.
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking of prayer as changing God's mind. We ask him for stuff and he changes in response to what we ask him to do. Such a view causes some serious issues relating to God's sovereignty and has some significant problems relating to our salvation and broader Christian walk. It can lead us down the line of Open Theism which is, let's say, problematic.
Of course, prayer isn't doing that. Don't get me wrong, God really does work through the prayers of people. But as a sovereign God, he folds our prayers into his sovereign plan, causing us to pray them and then being pleased to work through them on our behalf. One might wonder what the point of praying is if that is what is going on on? In working this way, we can see God at work more clearly, rely more fully upon him and have our wills moulded more closely to his. If God simply does whatever he wants with no reference to us, we could easily be complacent and fatalistic, uttering some Christian form of inshallah. But if God folds our prayers - along with whatever other work he has given us to do - into his sovereign plans, we can see him at work through them, might rely on him more as we get about those things and align our will more closely with his as we do them. God really works through prayer for our benefit and folds our prayers into his sovereign plans so that he might work through them for our good.
But it is often humbling to think about how God works through our prayers too. I can think of three broad ways God can work through our prayers that are both interesting and, at the same time, quite humbling. Some of them even jolt us to even more prayer. Let's think about each briefly.
Of course, prayer isn't doing that. Don't get me wrong, God really does work through the prayers of people. But as a sovereign God, he folds our prayers into his sovereign plan, causing us to pray them and then being pleased to work through them on our behalf. One might wonder what the point of praying is if that is what is going on on? In working this way, we can see God at work more clearly, rely more fully upon him and have our wills moulded more closely to his. If God simply does whatever he wants with no reference to us, we could easily be complacent and fatalistic, uttering some Christian form of inshallah. But if God folds our prayers - along with whatever other work he has given us to do - into his sovereign plans, we can see him at work through them, might rely on him more as we get about those things and align our will more closely with his as we do them. God really works through prayer for our benefit and folds our prayers into his sovereign plans so that he might work through them for our good.
But it is often humbling to think about how God works through our prayers too. I can think of three broad ways God can work through our prayers that are both interesting and, at the same time, quite humbling. Some of them even jolt us to even more prayer. Let's think about each briefly.
Prayer God answers but not in the way we thought he would
Perhaps you have experienced this sort of prayer. Churches often pray for more people - desperately imploring God to send them, convinced it is for the good of the gospel - but when God does answer, they start adding the little caveat, 'not like that!' God hears and answers prayer, but so often he answers in ways we don't expect or even want exactly. I am reminded of my friend who prayed, genuinely and honestly, for God to show him his sin and, when the Lord obliged, he said it was horrendous. He just saw it everywhere and wished he hadn't!
Of course, there are all sorts of ways we might pray and the Lord answers our prayers, not in difficult or hard ways, but just deeply unexpected ones. Sometimes the answer to our prayer for support, not knowing where it is going to come from, comes from the most bizarre of places. I remember talking to one pastor in the early days of my ministry, explaining that we have an annual £15,000 (or so) deficit yet, whenever we reassess how long we have until we're bust, the well never seems dry. When asked where the money came from, I simply couldn't say. Nothing about the state of our finances suggested anything other than the doors would close. It felt very much like a widow of Zarephath situation - the Lord simply answered our prayer and that was that. Sometimes the Lord humbles us by doing extraordinary things for us, in ways we didn't imagine possible, for his glory.
Prayers God doesn't answer because they're stupid
Sometimes, we get annoyed that the Lord isn't answering our prayers. We can almost wonder if God is even listening to us because whatever we asked him for isn't happening. Rarely do we stop to ask whether the Lord isn't giving us this thing for our own good.
I know folks who have prayed that the Lord would open up the door to ministry or eldership that isn't happening for them. Rarely do people countenance that the Lord might be saving them from a lifetime of grief and hardship. God may not be answering the prayer request itself, but may be answering with a gentle 'I really do know best'.
The same is true when the Lord doesn't send our church the people we've been praying for. We often can't see beyond the apparent need of the church rather than thinking that perhaps, whilst the immediate issues may be helped, a whole raft of harder problems may come with new people. Sometimes, the Lord is keeping us from what will be worse.
Of course, those above examples aren't necessarily stupid. But they are things that God might work differently, knowing better than us. But there are also plenty of things we do pray that might well be stupid. Not potentially stupid, but just actively stupid. Certainly not things that would serve our spiritual good in any real way or the cause of the gospel in our context. When we realise that we are just asking for stupid stuff, it is quite humbling. Humbling to realise that God is saying no because what we've asked him is just dumb.
Prayers God answers that were never prayed
Perhaps most humbling of all is when God does give us the stuff that we need that we never even bothered asking for or praying about. I have lost count of the number of times the Lord simply gave, without our ever having bothered asking or consulting him. In my better moments, I see that and thank him after the fact. Though, more often than I care to admit, I simply say nothing and carry on happy that everything has worked out regardless of what I prayed with little thought for the God who brought it to pass.
Of course, prayerlessness is not something to be applauded but lamented. Complacency is not something to be happy about. We shouldn't take God for granted and, though we can rest in his sovereignty, that is not an excuse to effectively ignore him altogether. God's common grace mean that even unbelievers and those who openly despise him may have all they need too; they are foolish if they think such grace to them means God is unconcerned about their heart towards him nor as if that mercy toward them will last for eternity. In the same way, the people of God are foolish to think his grace to them - despite our prayerlessness and lack of thought for him - will not lead to some consequences that might wake us up from our malaise. As comforting as God's sovereignty is when it comes to the security of our salvation, it is a scary thought to reckon that God has elected a people and, in his sovereignty, they cannot fail to be saved so he will go to some great lengths to ensure the elect get to where they need to go. The love that will not let us go is comforting when we want to walk with him aright but feel our weakness and don't trust ourselves; it is terrifying when we have become complacent or turned to rebellion to think of what he might do to ensure we return.
Nevertheless, it is often humbling to see the non-prayers that the Lord continues to answer. The things we didn't bother asking, the things we never came to him for, the things he simply gave us graciously without our ever thinking to go to him. When he does that, it is hard not to be chastened about our prayerlessness and humbled that the Almighty God has chosen to work for our good, even when we don't bother asking him to do so.
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