The End of Petition - pray pt. 1

Why petition God? What is the purpose of petition? Why should we ask God to do something if He already knows what is going to happen? What changes when we pray? What happens when we do not pray? If we ask these questions of Scripture, we might acquire a better understanding of why we should petition God. However, even before consulting Scripture (because this is really less a question of understanding Scripture and more one of wrapping our minds around the answer we already know) there is a simple solution. The premise of the questions is that God knows all things—past, present, and future. In prayer, we ask God to change things. The apparent problem is that we cannot understand how God could change the outcome of a situation when he already knows what it will be.

First, let us look at our own actions in prayer. Did God know beforehand what you had for dinner last night? Yes. How much of a role did God play in getting food on your plate? While we would be right in saying that he provided all the resources that made it possible, it is probably by your own hand that the food was either prepared or purchased. And yet we thank God for our food knowing it was really his hand behind it all. The point I am making here is that God’s foreknowledge does not preclude our action. So, just because God knows what will happen tomorrow does not mean we all get to sleep in.

There is a saying that goes “when we work, we work; when we pray, He works.” I agree with this statement as far as it goes. It is God who works. But there is a sense in which prayer is real work on our part. Our prayers have real effects on reality, just as much as any other activity in which we would involve ourselves. Consequently, just because God knows that we are going to pray should not keep us from praying.

Second, let us look at God’s actions in prayer. Did God know when he created Adam and Eve that they would sin? Did he know from the beginning that he would have to exile them from Eden? Did he know from the beginning that he would have to send his Son to die in our place? If God knew all this from the beginning, why did he bother with all the intermediary stuff, why not just skip to the end? Though God has known the entire history of man since before man existed, he himself has specifically intervened at specific points in time. God knows what he is going to do tomorrow. But he has not done it yet.

At first this does not seem to be helpful in unfolding the answer to our question. It seems to be stating the very reason we are perplexed. Nevertheless, the solution is found in the problem. God knows what will happen tomorrow. Among those things that he knows is which prayers he will answer. God knows what he will do, and he knows which of those things he will do in response to our petition. So we understand that just because God already knows the future does not mean we have no part to play in its outcome. Therefore, we should pray.