If God is Sovereign, Why Pray? Part 1

Sovereignty, Free Will, and the Question of Prayer

I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1st Samuel. I want to let you know that this morning we're going to be looking at various texts, and it is going to be a few minutes before we get to this text, but if you want to just hold your place there at 1st Samuel, chapter 2, that will be the first verse that we focus upon.

Now, over the past few weeks, we have been examining the truth of God's sovereignty as it is expressed to us in the pages of Scripture, in particular, the Old Testament. We have been looking at God's sovereignty as it is expressed to us, particularly in the Old Testament.

We first looked at God's decree, wherein He demonstrates His authority over all things which come to pass in human history. We see examples of this throughout the Old Testament and even into the New Testament.

We then looked last week at how that decree is understood in light of our ability to make free choices, and we examined the concept of human free will. That was the focus of last week's lesson. How do we understand a God who is all-powerful, who is all-sovereign, who is in control of everything, and yet man has what we might call free moral agency, or the ability to make choices.

And if you weren't here for that message, I encourage you to go to Sermon Audio and listen to it. Well, this week we are going to remain on the theme of God's sovereignty, looking at that subject, by looking at a very important and sometimes controversial subject, and that is God's sovereignty and prayer.

As we learned over the past few weeks by His sovereign will, God has from eternity decreed all things which come to pass. So the question for many, when you hear that truth, God has from eternity decreed all things which will come to pass.

That statement is found in all of the Reformed doctrines of faith, statement of faith, and it is certainly taught in the Bible. But when you hear that, that God has decreed from eternity all that will come to pass, the question becomes, well, if that's the truth, why then do we pray?

If God has already decided, if God has already decreed, how then do our prayers factor into that? Why even pray if God has already made a sovereign decree? Well, my hope, beloved, is that by the end of this lesson, and I want to go ahead and warn you, it may become two lessons.

As I was looking through my notes this morning, I said, you know what? Getting through this would be a lot in one Sunday. So I actually told the ladies in the sound room, I made a mark on the page. I said, if I decide to stop, this will be where I decide to stop.

So we'll see how it goes. But the reality is I'm never in a hurry. It's much more important to get the lesson through than to get through with the lesson. Hey, there's a Jerry Powers thing, isn't it? One of our fellow friends and fellow pastor.

But the truth of the matter is we will see this week and possibly in the next week that prayer to our sovereign God is one of the most precious blessings that has been given to the believer. And it is one of the means by which God has established, by which we worship him, by which we receive his blessings and by which we grow in his grace.

So knowing that is what we're going to be looking at. And though we're going to be looking at quite a few verses of scripture, let's begin by prayer. Let's bow our heads. Our Father and our God, we thank you for this opportunity to again be about the business of studying your word.

I pray that as we engage the texts this morning, that you would open our heart to understand them, that as we focus on the subject of your immutability, your sovereignty, your power, your majesty, that we would not get lost in what those words mean, but that we would understand that each one of those simply describes an attribute which you possess.

And Father, as we consider these things this morning, I pray that you'll open up the hearts of the believers to understand you a little better. And Lord God, if there are those here who don't know you, that you would convict them to the preaching of the truth and that ultimately, through all of this, you would be glorified.

In Jesus name and for his sake, Amen. A few years ago, a motto crept up within the Christian community and it still is seen from time to time on bulletins and bumper stickers and T-shirts. And the motto was this, changes things, changes things.

And that was like I said, you saw it on bumper stickers, you might see it on pamphlets, especially in hospitals. You might see it. Prayer changes things. Now, I want to go ahead and tip my hand a little.

My point this morning is not to necessarily rebuff those words, as we will see in time through this study, that those words can be true. I do, however, want to begin by saying that I think this motto has been taken to the extreme by some who have used it to reason that God is somehow subservient to our will and to our desires.

In a sense, they have come to believe this, prayer changes God. Now, I see some of you shaking your heads. No, that's because you're in a reformed church. You know better than that. But don't think that there ain't people out there.

I mean, I've heard preachers say things almost on par with that. I heard one old boy one day on the radio. He said that God never intervenes in our life unless we invite him to do so. As if God is just up there wringing his hand saying, boy, I wish Keith would invite me in and let me help him because I sure want to help him.

But my hands are tied. That's the picture people have. They have this weak God, this unsovereign God, this ungod God. And it's frustrating. Anyone with a theological bone in their body ought to understand that the term prayer changes God is wrong.

The Changelessness of God and the Error of Thinking Prayer Changes Him

So what do we understand? Well, the first thing we need to understand in this study, and it's really the crux of this first part, that I want us to really wrap our heads around because it's hard. We're going to talk about a subject and theological terms.

It's called immutability. But in the common vernacular, we would say it's the changelessness of God, that God doesn't change. That's such an important concept. That is a concept which has been lost in many modern teachings about God.

In fact, some people have just decided that it's not true, that God does change. And in fact, a lot of religions base their idea on that, that God can simply change at any time, change his mind. Islam has that idea.

That's why some of the surahs of the Qur 'an say one thing. And the way they determine truth in the Qur 'an is that the surahs that were the older ones can be changed by the newer ones. Because they know when they were written.

So they can say in chronological order, if this one says be at peace with your neighbor, but this one was written later and it says kill the infidel. Well, we're going to kill the infidel because that's God making a change.

That's God saying, well, this is the way it was then, but this is the way it is now. So there's this idea that God is in flux, that God is changing his will. Well, this flies right in the face of what the Bible teaches about God, because the Bible teaches that God is immutable.

Immutable means unchanging. And if you want to look at a few places, I know I told you to go to 1 Samuel, but just on this immutability topic, let's just glance at a few passages. Hold your place in 1 Samuel.

Turn over to Numbers 23. A lot of you know this one. You might even have memorized this in Sunday school or at some point in your life, but it's an important verse. Numbers 23 and verse 19 says, God is not man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind.

He has, he said, and will he not do it or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it? This is this is talking about the promises of God that once God has done or said something, he's not going to go back and change his mind.

You know, I remember when I was a kid. With my dad, if I ever really wanted something, I'd make him promise, because if I could get him to say, I promise, I knew I'd get it. Because dad wasn't going to lie to me.

A lot of things, you know, obviously, my dad's not perfect. I'm not perfect, but I'm sort of the same way with my kids. If once I say I'm going to do it, I'm not going to change. That's at least I'm going to try not to.

Well, that's where this text is in talking about God. The idea is that God changes not. He is not a man that he would lie. Neither is he the son of man that he would change his mind. He is God. If he says it, he's going to do it.

And that's the key to what that's talking about. It's talking about the fact that God is not like man. As we do change, there were times where I was made promises and I didn't get it. Now, as I pointed at my dad, and there's times I make promises that I don't fulfill, but God is like me.

God is incapable of lying. God is incapable of not fulfilling his promises. God doesn't change. That's what that verse is. Now, again, look over in 1st Samuel 15, 1st Samuel chapter 15 and verse 29. It says 1st Samuel 15, verse 29.

And also the glory of Israel. By the way, the glory of Israel is a synonym for God. God is the glory of Israel. The glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man that he should have regret.

Right there in another translation, which is the NASB, it says God is not a man. He will not change his mind. The term have regret means in this way of vernacular, it means to change his mind. He will not change his mind.

How about this one? I think most of you probably know Malachi 3 .6. Malachi 3 .6 says what? For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, O sons of Jacob, you are not consumed. That's an important verse because, you know, God promised he wasn't going to destroy Israel.

He promised Israel's protection. And he said, and that's the only thing that's keeping you alive. Because they certainly did not deserve his protection. They had rebelled against him. And he says, I, the Lord, do not change.

Though you change, though you rebel, though you left me, I don't change. And that's why you still exist. As my very immutability is keeping you alive. And then, of course, James 1 .17, I won't make you turn there.

We'll put it up on the screen. James 1 .17 says every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of the heavenly lights who does not change. In fact, in the ESV, it says with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

There is no change in God. I mean, the Bible is replete with examples of this. It is replete with promises of this, that God is immutable, even in instances wherein it might seem that God has changed his mind.

We are confronted by a further examination with Scripture that the language that is used is language which we call anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism means that a particular human characteristic is ascribed to God because we cannot we cannot fathom his infinite ways.

So there are times where the Bible talks about God repenting. There are times where the Bible talks about God repenting of having made man because man was so sinful. And we say, oh, wait, if God repents, that means he changes his mind.

That is an anthropomorphic statement. It's talking about where it's using a human example to describe that which is unhuman. God is more massive and more infinite and more powerful. And his immutability and all these things are far beyond our level of comprehension.

So the Bible uses a human example at times to describe something that we would understand so as to draw closer to God in that way. The Bible says God condescends to us in Scripture so that we will have a level of understanding of him.

But the reality is that God does not change. In fact, I want to affirm this in a way that maybe hopefully will help you all understand, because this is very important. We talk about God doesn't change because I had a person argue and I always say in this church, I ain't been in another church.

I've been in this church since I was eight years old. So most of the theological battles which I have had have been here. And years and years ago, there was a fellow who wanted to argue with me that God changes.

He talked about the repent verse. He talks about verse and he said, you got to tell me that God does change. He has to change. Times change. God has to change. And I said, I said, listen, let me put this to you in a way that might just clear up any and all question.

I'm going to ask you one simple question and it should clear it up forever. Is God perfect? Is God perfect? And of course, I mean, what are you going to say if you believe he's God? You believe that he's sovereign.

You believe he's perfect. This guy had. Well, yeah, I believe that he's perfect. I said, well, let me tell you a little just make this in your mind. God is perfect. We agree on that, right, brother? Yes, we agree.

God is perfect. I say, well, listen to this and listen close. If God is perfect and he changed for the worse, he would cease to be perfect. If God is perfect and he changed for the better, that means he wasn't perfect to start with.

And if God is perfect and he made a lateral change, neither better nor worse, the very need to change demonstrates an imperfection. And thus, he is not perfect. I said, so so, brother, if you believe God is perfect, then you must believe God changes not.

It's very simple. Thank you. It's very, very simple. The perfection of God demands the immutability of God. The perfection of God demands the changelessness of God. It has to. So that is how we understand God.

We understand he's perfect. Thus, we understand he changes not. So getting back to the initial issue, which we were talking about with prayer, if people say prayer changes things, if they mean prayer changes God, then that must be rejected because God changes not.

Well, somebody might say, well, nobody teaches that. But again, I would disagree. There are many teachers today who teach that God's hands are bound by our prayers. They're bound by the prayers of the believers, that all we have to do is name it and claim it.

And God is bound to do it, that all we have to do is claim it by faith. You heard it, you turn on TV and you leave it for five minutes, it'll make you gag. Because these people are always talking about having claimed their blessing, claimed their car, claimed their house, claimed this, claimed that.

They've bound the hands of God and he's obeyed it. Because that's how they treat God, as if he is a celestial Santa Claus. And that's what prayer is about, changing God. Well, you see, what happens often when we begin to discuss subjects like prayer, people begin to forget that we are dealing with a sovereign, omnipotent, immutable God.

And instead, they relegate God to a genie in a bottle from whom they can demand their wishes and from whom they are guaranteed their desires. As I said, he's like Kris Kringle begging us to come and sit on his lap and tell him our wishes and he's obligated to fulfill them.

As a result, many thoughts about the nature of prayer stem from the perpetuate and inadequate and low conception that the people have of who God is. It really is. The idea of prayer gets so bogged down in this idea that the whole idea of prayer is about getting something from God.

Or getting God to make a change, or getting God to do something different. But the question should be, why do we pray? Do we pray to change God's plans? You might say, well, sometimes, Pastor, because, well, if somebody's sick, we're praying that they'd be better.

Well, we'll deal with that later. But right off the bat, do we pray to change God's plan? Do we pray to tell God something he doesn't already know? Do we pray to tell God just what we want? Do we pray so as to thwart his will and have our own replace it?

Well, again, certainly sensible believers would reject such nonsense. But the question then becomes, why do we pray? If we don't pray for those reasons, which I will say, that's the majority of the reason why the world prays.

And this is why the majority of prayers which are sent to God go unnoticed. Oh, what? I want to make sure I say this. The majority of prayers which go out from the world are not heard by God in the sense of prayers, because they come from the hearts and the mouths of unbelievers.

The Bible tells us that God is not in the business of hearing the prayers of unbelievers. They're not worshipers of God. The Bible says that that which is not done in faith is sin. That which is not done in faith is sin.

So somebody tells me, well, I'm an atheist, but I pray. I've never heard an atheist say that. Let me back up. Somebody says, well, you know what? I don't know. I don't really believe in Jesus, but I pray all the time.

I don't really believe in Jesus, but I know there's this higher power and I pray all the time. Well, what good is it to pray without a mediator? What good is it to pray without Christ? The Bible says if we pray in Christ's name, he hears us.

But what does that mean if we don't? I kind of got off the subject there. Let me go back real quick. What do we what is prayer for? What are we doing in prayer? Well, over the period of the next the rest of the sermon and next week, I want to talk about three truths about prayer, which are taken from the word of God, and I want to show you that a proper understanding of prayer comes primarily from a proper understanding of what the Bible says.

We have to understand what the Bible says for us to understand prayer. And number one, and this is going to be our focus for today. If you're taking notes, you may want to just keep your notes for next week.

But I'll tell you what the number one thing is. Prayer has been appointed for. Prayer has been appointed primarily as an act of worship. Prayer has been appointed primarily as an act of worship. One of the things that I have noticed in our modern context is that our culture today seems to approach worship very differently than the generations of the past.

Particularly when I say our culture in the last hundred years, things that worship has changed, the idea of what worship is has changed. Dr. R .C. Sproul had a very interesting situation. He was at a church and he was speaking at the church.

He was preaching at the church and they had a wonderful worship band that was leading the service and the worship band was leading the service. And they were singing songs and everybody was, you know, putting up their antennas and they're ready to go.

They're ready to worship. They're doing their thing. And then the song service was over and the pastor came up to welcome Dr. Sproul. And the pastor came up on the stage and he says, well, it's good to see everyone here tonight.

I'm glad to see you. God bless you. Now that worship has concluded, we'll have Dr. Sproul come and bring us the sermon. Well, you can imagine Dr. Sproul, if you all know him, what he had to say about that.

His very first words was just to let everybody know worship has not concluded. Worship will continue with the reading of the word and prayer and study. Because that all is part and parcel of worship, worship, by the way.

We have a wonderful group of guys and Ms. Moritz who lead us in wonderful music, but that is a part of worship. Worship is not only music, worship is not only preaching, worship is not only communion, worship is prayer, too.

In our acts of prayer, we are engaging in some of the most intimate type, in one of the most intimate types of worship that there is. We are talking to God directly. Have you ever thought about just how important of a of a worship idea that that is, that you're talking to God?

I mean, just consider it for a moment. You are relating to the God of the universe. Now, some people say, well, you know, I don't really pray. I talk to God all the time. The Bible doesn't just doesn't talk about prayer like that.

Certainly, when we're driving, we don't close our eyes. Certainly, there are times where we can pray short prayers to God, but there are times where we are called to stop what we're doing. And focus intently upon that moment of worship, it doesn't have to be long and it doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be focused on God and worship, because that's what prayer is first and foremost appointed to be.

It is appointed to be an act of worship to God that we who were separated from him have been given the ability to have a relationship with him because of the work of Christ. And because of the work of Christ, we now have no separation between us and God.

There is no more wall of divide. We have been declared righteous because of the work of Christ and we can relate to God by speaking to him our prayer. We can actually talk to God through prayer. That's the amazing thing.

That's what it is. It's worship. Prayer is an act of worship when it's done as the body of Christ. Prayer is an act of worship when it's done by the individual. What is worship, by the way? Not that I want to get upset, but I want to ask the question, do we even know what that word means?

Do we know what the word worship means? Because we talk about it when we come to church to worship and we sit together and we worship prayers. Worship will be important if we understood it. Worship is actually in English a word which comes from the combination of two words.

The word worth, you know what worth is when you talk about worth, like somebody may be worth a certain amount of money. Or if I if I pull out a ring and I say this ring has made of gold and it has a diamond and thus it is worth this much.

Or if I say to me, there is nothing in this world that is worth more than my wife and my kids. You're talking about value. Worth is value. Well, when we talk about worship, that word comes from the combination of the word worth and ship, which means to ascribe to.

So we talk about worship. It means to ascribe value to something. And then we worship all kinds of stuff. People tend to worship other people. We all we have idols in our lives that we ascribe much worth to.

We worship them. We worship things. You know, it's often been said that the problem with the world is that we're supposed to use things and love people. The problem is we love things and use people. And that's what worship is.

It's ascribing value to something. So what is worship when we talk about it in God and in a relationship to God? Worship is ascribing value to God. It is understanding his value. And beloved, there is nothing in the universe that is more valuable than God.

There is nothing in the universe more precious than God, because God is the very one who is holding all things together. He is the very one who is, by his omnipotent hand, keeping this world together.

We always talk about, well, gravity keeps the earth spinning. Gravity is something that God created, but it is an act of God's will that it's here. And if God for a moment took his heart off of this world, took his hand off this world, it would spin out of control.

So when we talk about ascribing worth, I've often said that the very heart that beats within my chest beats at the pulse that God has chosen. And that at any moment, I could cease to be. At any moment, God could choose for me not to exist.

So when I talk about worth, he's got a lot of worth in my life. He's got a lot of value in my life, because it's by him and through him and in him that I exist. I live and breathe and have my being in him.

That's worship. It's not just my favorite song or my favorite prayer or my favorite sermon. It's understanding who God is. And he is the one who created me. He is the one who sustains me. He is the one who sent his son to save me.

And he is the one who is at this time preparing a place for me that I will be with him forever and ever. That is who God is. That is the type of worth and value that we need to ascribe to him. And that is from where our prayers should come.

An understanding of his value, an understanding of who he is. Jesus is not my homeboy. I've said that before. I just throw that out there. I see these shirts. Jesus is my homeboy. God and I are like this.

God is the very one who created the world. To him, the glory, power and honor forever and ever. Amen. That's what the Bible says. This is the command of us, of all believers, is to ascribe worth to him.

And prayer is one of the ways by which we ascribe value to him, is that we commit portions of our life to simply being in a relationship with him, to simply speaking to him, to talking to him. I want to look at some of the great prayers of Scripture.

This is what I've been. I told you I had a verse to get, so I wanted to look. I want to look at a couple of the great prayers of Scripture. I want us to see the worship in these passages. The first one is my wife's favorite character is Hannah.

Go to first Samuel two. Hannah, as you know, was a woman with a troubled spirit. She was a troubled spirit because she was unable to give a child to her husband. Her husband, Alcanna, had had a second wife who had given him many children and her heart ached because she did not have a child.

And she prayed to God that God would open her womb. And God did open her womb. And it was his will to do so. And she brought forth Samuel. And she had promised that if this child be born unto her, that she would give this child over to be a child used for the service to the Lord.

And in chapter two, there is a prayer that came from the lips of Hannah. And I want you to hear it, but I want you to think this while you're listening, while I want you to think, what is she doing in this prayer?

She is worshiping God through the through the avenue of prayer. Listen to her words. Verse two, or chapter two, verse one, said,. And Hannah prayed and said,. My heart exalts in the Lord. My strength is exalted in the Lord.

My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. Don't go any further. Just stay there on verse one because we're going to get to the rest. But just this, this is a worshiping prayer. It's a prayer that has its desire to lift God up, to show his value.

Verse two, there is none holy like the Lord. You know, Hannah was not a theologian by trade, but she had a good theology. Because she knew something about God that many people today miss. She knew about the holiness of God.

She said there is none holy like the Lord. There is none besides you. There is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly. Let not arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken. Remember the the bows were the were the weapons of war. They were what were the bow and the arrow were the weapon. And it says here that the bows of the mighty, the bows of the powerful are broken.

But the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. But those who are hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has born seven. But she who has many children is forlorn.

The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to shield and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust. He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones. But the wicked shall be cut off in darkness for not by might shall a man prevail.

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces against them. He will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.

All this is beloved is statement after statement after statement of the immense value and glory and power of God that kings are powerful. God is more powerful. Kings have strength and bows and arrows and weapons of war.

But God breaks those bows. God is the powerful one. God can open the womb. God can bring men from barren women. God is powerful. And that's prayer. The first condition of prayer is it is an attitude of worship.

Before we talk about petition and before we talk about God's sovereignty and his decree, and before we talk about all those things which we'll get to in the week to come, we need to understand that the committed prayer is a prayer of worship first and everything else is secondary.

Look with me at Psalm 90, which we read opening our passage this morning. Psalm 90 was the call to worship this morning. This is the prayer of Moses. It's one of the few psalms. It's not written by David.

It's written by Moses, which means that it was held among the Hebrew people for eons before the time of David. And it was held by them because, you know, Moses lived many, many years prior to David. And they held this prayer as a prayer of the people.

In Psalm 90, it said, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth. Remember, this is a prayer. If you look at 90, if you go up where it says, it says a prayer of Moses, the man of God.

It says, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world. And this is incredible. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

Beloved, there are some things that I have had the luxury and the benefit of God giving me understanding in His Word. God has really opened my eyes to many things. But I will tell you, the one thing that I do not understand is God's eternity.

The fact that He always was and always will be. That there was never a moment that He was not. And there will never be a moment where He will not be. And I can't express that truth any better than Moses did in this short prayer.

From everlasting to everlasting, you are. You see, that's the heart of prayer. It's worship. It's worship. Daniel, look over the book of Daniel. Daniel, chapter nine, a very powerful passage, a very important section of Scripture, which we certainly do not have time to exegete this morning.

But Daniel, chapter nine, has Daniel's prayer for his people. And if you look, we'll just read the first few verses because we just don't have time to go through the whole thing. But look at verse four.

We'll read the first few words of this prayer. Again, just to get the idea of how he prayed to God. He said, I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, O Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps covenants and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Just stop right there. He goes on to confess sin. He goes on to ask for salvation for his people. But prior to that, he says what? God, you are great. God, you are awesome. God, you are a covenant keeping God.

Whose love is steadfast and who loves those who keep His commandments. You see that right there is the picture of how prayer should be. It should be words of worship to God. And finally, I know I've taken you all over the Bible today and we spent the majority in the Old Testament.

I want to show you one last one in the New Testament. And there are prayers all through the Bible, but there's none that's more of a model for how we ought to pray than this one. And of course, it's the model prayer.

Go to Matthew chapter 6 and verse 7. In verse 7, Jesus is telling us how not to pray. He says, and when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.

Very quickly, let me just add a comment on that. When people pray and it's just babble, or they pray and they're just on and on and on, and they're saying nothing, that's not godly prayer. It's not godly prayer.

Jesus says that we're not to heap up empty phrases. But what we are to say is to have meaning, it's to have purpose, it's to be important and valuable. It's we're ascribing work to God. We're not just babbling into the air.

And he says, do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. We're going to talk more about that when we talk about petition, about the fact that God already knows what we need before we even ask.

But just look at verse 9, it says, Pray like this, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, he goes on to petition. And as I said, we'll talk about that in the weeks to come.