2 Your will be done, but isn’t it anyway? The Sovereignty of God & Prayer

I think for a lot of people, ‘sovereignty’ is just another big theological word to describe a big God, but they don’t actually know what it means. So before I try and explain why this doctrine is vital for prayer, let’s wonder at the big God of everything.

What is the sovereignty of God?

He said in Isaiah 46:9-11, “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

The sovereignty of God is that His will is done, whatever He has ordained occurs. All of His purposes have been accomplished, are being accomplished or will be accomplished. Jonathan Parnell explains that “it is the distinctly Christian term for reality.”

God’s sovereignty is not that God generally has control of everything, but sometimes He loses control or chooses not to exercise it, and that’s when disaster strikes. God’s sovereignty is not that He carries out an altered plan in response to circumstances, God doesn’t have plan B’s. God doesn’t say, ‘My counsel will maybe stand, and I will accomplish some of my purpose eventually, in a roundabout way.’ He is God.

Matthew 10:29 says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”

A bird flies from the east because God willed it to, and a bird falls from a tree because God willed it to. From the electrons orbiting the nucleus in an atom to the planets orbiting the sun in our solar system, they are exactly following God’s plan, for His glory.

Charles Spurgeon said, “I cannot comprehend it. I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphis over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sere leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He that believes in a God must believe this truth.”

Furthermore, the sovereignty of God is most gloriously manifest at the cross. God planned it; the stripping & spitting on & beating of His beloved son, the cries to ‘crucify him,’ the mockery as He hung naked, the gambling for His clothes, the piercing of His side. The worst wickedness ever to take place was governed by God; “It was the will of the Lord to crush him.” (Isaiah 53:10)

The Gospel is that He is the Sovereign servant. He came not to be served but to serve, and the King is glorified in this. God doesn’t take. In Psalm 50 He makes clear to His people that He does not need anything from them; He is All-sufficient and He doesn’t require their sacrifices, He owns the bulls & cattle anyway. Rather, He says, “I will deliver you and you will glorify me.” Jesus is glorified by saving others by not saving himself (Matthew 27:42), by giving us fullness of joy.

How does the sovereignty of God apply to prayer?

1. God is able to answer prayer You will not pray, never mind pray persistently, if you do not believe that God is sovereign; Job said “I know that you can do all things, and no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” This is what the Bible means when it instructs to pray believing. It’s to address your prayers like the early church did in Acts 4:24, they lifted their voices together and said, ‘Sovereign Lord,’ and then began their petition. It’s relying on the Sovereign King of the Universe to be who he says He is, and therefore able to do even the impossible.

2. God wants to answer prayer Not only is He able to, but He wants to answer prayer. God is the Sovereign king and the good Father. These two combined give us providence, where he always works for our good (Romans 8:28). In prayer, the sovereign God & good Father lends His ear and says, ‘Ask me.’ He beckons us to pray so that He can give good gifts to His children. (Matthew 7:11)

3. God wills to answer prayer Why pray if God is sovereign? Why pray if God has already planned from forever what He will most definitely accomplish? On the surface it seems that prayer, specifically petition, is pointless, as you ask the God with no plan B’s to do something presumably different than plan A.

But God ordains that prayer is part of His plan A…

James 4:2 reads, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” The reason for not having is not asking. The reason for having is asking. John Piper explains it perfectly, he says, “Prayer causes things to happen that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t pray.”

God doesn't say that you would have anyway, even if you didn't ask because he has a plan. He says “ask and you will receive” (Matthew 7:7), and you don’t receive because you don’t ask.

And so this appears to conflict with the sovereignty of God, where His plan stands forever (Psalm 33:11).

However, a) God predestined that something happens, and He also predestined that we ask for that something to happen. b) We ask. c) He does what He predestined to do, in other words, He answers the prayer. If you take one factor out of that and remove the asking part, then God hasn’t predestined that we ask, He hasn’t predestined that things happen, things don’t happen, and they don’t happen because we didn’t ask. You do not have because you do not ask.

The Sovereignty of God in prayer is that the asking, and the resultant receiving are both purposed by God.

Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” God plans the victory, but that doesn’t mean don’t make the horse ready for battle, because God also plans that the victory to be achieved through the warhorse. God plans that things will happen and He plans that they will happen through prayer. If you don’t pray, they won’t happen.

Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” God ordains the result of dice, and (obviously) He also ordains that the result is given by the dice being thrown. If the lot is cast, there is a decision. If you ask, you will receive.

God predestines someone to be adopted as His child, but that doesn't mean don’t go and tell them the gospel, for God has also predestined that they come to faith by hearing it of you. (Romans 9:14).

God predestines that He gives good gifts, but that doesn't mean don’t ask Him, for He has predestined that He gives the gifts when you ask.

John Piper uses this analogy: if there’s a board, and God predestined that there is a nail in the board, take a hammer and hit the nail. Every nail sunk in a board is because God willed it to be so, but He wills it through hammers. He wills things to happen through prayer.

Prayer moves the sovereign hand of God. This doesn't mean that He isn't sovereign, but that He has given us the privilege of our prayers being the cause of His will being done.

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15