If you are still reading after the last post, then you agree that God does interact with His people, and somehow this whole God’s sovereignty and man’s free will works out somehow to make that possible. Either that, or you are just gathering more evidence for your new blog titled “The Heretic Headlines”. I made the vain promise last time that I would attempt to guide us through how that interaction works, although now it seems I may have been better off promising to play Amazing Grace on the piano while juggling chainsaws. Oh well, here it goes…
We will start with the amazing promise of Jesus to His disciples in Mark 11:22-25. In a lesson on faith and prayer, Jesus says, “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Seriously Jesus? All we have to do is use our free will, pray and believe, and we get anything? How about my hair on the back of my head? Obviously, this statement of Jesus was meant to be taken in context with His other teachings as well as the rest of the Bible. Otherwise, I would have a pretty sweet ride and would look like the guy on Hawaii Five-O (doesn’t it bother you that he is actually Australian and has the nerve to play an American? We would never do that). However, there is definitely a connection that Jesus is making between our faith and what we receive in prayer. If it was a matter of God’s sovereignty alone, what does it matter if we have faith or not? This story is far from over though.
What does it mean to pray for something “in Jesus’ name”? Many people pick names today merely because they like the way the name sounds without any regard on the meaning of the name (say like, calling your kid Apple). In Biblical culture, names were very important, and God will often rename someone for prophetic purposes. A name then was associated with that person’s life, deeds, and personality. To “pray in Jesus’ name” then means to pray for something that Jesus would pray for. We have to be challenged by His priorities, compassion, and worldview to answer that question. Would Jesus pray for Bose stereo system? I am not so sure we are always praying for things that Jesus would pray for, so we can have all the faith in the world and still not get that Ipad.
How can we know if we are praying for something Jesus would pray for? 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that we must pray for things according to God’s will. Now, we see the apostle John bringing God’s sovereignty and man’s faith together in this statement on prayer. When we pray in full faith and receive what we pray for, we know that we are praying “according to God’s will”. Often, we pray for things that we think we need, or think should happen, but they run counter to the will of God. God knows way better what we need, or what needs to happen in a situation. For example, we pray as best we can in intercession for the nations, but only God has all the knowledge to make a conclusion on what will lead that nation to Him.
The passage that really impacted me most was 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. In order to keep Paul humble, God allows for him to suffer from a “thorn in the flesh” (whatever that is, it isn’t pleasant I am sure). Paul says he prayed three times for God to remove this suffering, and each time God didn’t do what Paul was asking. So, if prayer and God’s interaction with us rests on faith alone, we are in big trouble. If God didn’t answer Paul because he didn’t have enough faith, I might as well give up now. This is a guy who saw people rise from the dead, healed by shadows, and was personally healed from a stoning. No, God’s answer is clear to Paul that He isn’t answering this prayer because His will is to show the power of Christ through Paul’s weakness. God’s grace would be sufficient for Paul without the thorn being removed.
Having all of our prayers would not always advance the kingdom of God. Healings or vast finances do not always give the best witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our question is: are we willing to pray and allow God to decide which prayers will advance His kingdom? is that our goal, to advance His kingdom, or are we just concerned with our desires and needs being met?
I leave you with a final beautiful picture of the intertwining of sovereignty and free will from Revelation 8:3-5. We are in the throne room of God in heaven. The throne room that is fully described in chapter 4. The whole picture is one reinforcing the control and sovereignty of God. Only He is on the throne. Only He is in control and in full knowledge of the whole flow of history. Yet, we see the incense bowl which is the prayers of the saints. These prayers are the free will act of intercession of the saints of God crying out for justice and the righteous judgment of the Lord. He takes these prayers, mixes it with fire, and pours it out on the earth. God interacts with those prayers and answers them in His sovereign reign. Amen.
The Bible Nerd 