(Our Sunday Bible Study, Wednesday Night, Bill Bower Singing.)
PRAYER AND GOD’S SELF-GOVERNMENT
October 27, 2010
“If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us” (1 John 5:14).
In the great majority of the books written and in the sermons preached upon prayer the human element fills the scene almost entirely: it is the conditions which we must meet, the promises we must “claim,” the things we must do in order to get our requests granted; and God’s claims, God’s rights, God’s glory are disregarded.
True or False: “God in His Sovereignty has ordained that human destinies may be changed and molded by the will of man. This is at the heart of the truth that prayer changes things, meaning that God changes things when men pray.
True or False “Human destiny” is settled not by the will of man, but by the will of God.
John 1:13: 1 Samuel 2:6-8
True or False: If a believer prays in faith and asks for those things which are according to God’s will he will most certainly obtain that for which he has asked.
True or False: There are other things that will happen if he prays, and will not happen if he does not pray.’“
True or False: God who has decreed the end has also decreed that His end shall be reached through His appointed means, and One of these is prayer.
True or False: “The possibilities and necessity of prayer, its power and results, are manifested in arresting and changing the purposes of God and in relieving the stroke of His power.” Daniel 4:35
True or False: There is no need whatever for God to change His designs or alter His purpose for the all-sufficient reason that these were framed under the influence of perfect goodness and unerring wisdom.
True or False: God’s policy is shaped as the prayers are more numerous, more efficient.” Ephesians #:11; 1:11; Romans 11:34
True or False: Such thoughts on prayer as we have been citing are due to low and inadequate conceptions of God Himself.
True or False: Well did Luther remark, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.”
The design of prayer. Why has God appointed that we should pray?
1. First and foremost, prayer has been appointed that the Lord God Himself should be honored. Isaiah 57:15; Jonah 2:9;
2. In the second place, prayer is appointed by God for our spiritual blessing, as a means for our growth in grace.
1. Prayer is designed by God for our humbling.
2. Prayer is designed by God for the exercise of our faith. Romans 10:8
3. Prayer calls love into action: Job 27:10; Psalms 116:1
4. Prayer is designed by God to teach us the value of the blessings we have sought from Him.
