Page 4 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

John MacArthur wrestles with the same issues in his commentary on Matthew when he says: None of us
can comprehend exactly how prayer functions within the infinite mind and plan of God. The Calvinist
view emphasizes God’s sovereignty, and its extreme application holds that God will work according to
His perfect will regardless of the way men pray or even whether they pray or not. Prayer is nothing more
than turning in to God’s will. At the opposite extreme, the Arminian view holds that God’s actions
pertaining to us are determined largely based on our prayers. On the one hand, prayer is seen simply as
a way of lining up with God regarding what He has already determined to do, and on the other hand it is
beseeching God to do what He otherwise would not do.

Scriptures supports both of those views and holds them, as it were, in tension. The Bible is
unequivocal about God’s sovereignty. But it is equally unequivocal in declaring that within
His sovereignty God calls upon His people to beseech Him in prayer – to implore His help in
guidance, provisions, protection, mercy, forgiveness, and countless other needs. God simply
commands us to obey the principles of prayer that His word gives.

The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology explains prayer in these terms. Biblical prayer includes
the dimensions of importunity and of submission. It makes place for cooperate and individual prayers to
be made. It contains silence, (Psalm 46:10) groans and words which are uttered, (Romans 8:26) shouts,
cries and jubilations. (See Psalms) Christian praying is both cooperate and individual. It is both wrestling
with God in the darkness and resting in the stillness. There is a time to argue and complain to God, but
there is also a time to submit. (See the Psalms) Biblical faith sees submission to the will of God coming
after the attempt to discover His will through heartfelt supplication and yes even complaining. Prayer is
both pleading with God that He will hear and act upon our request and a trusting surrender to God in
the confidence that He will act in His own time and way. But the confidence comes only through the
struggle… We pray not simply for personal happiness or for protection (as in primitive prayer) but for
the advancement and extension of the kingdom of God. Please note the choice of theological language
that The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology chose to use; primitive prayer. Again, we all start out as
children in our prayer lives which focuses primarily upon our wants, our needs, and our desires. This is
not sinful praying but is embryonic in nature. As we seek His face our desires become His desires and
our prayers begin to shift towards His will, which seeks to advance His kingdom, for His glory. Therefore,
all prayers are not created equally!

When we approach the study of prayer James teaches us that we do not have because we do not ask
(James 4:2). James implies that failure to ask deprives us of what God would otherwise have given to us.
Then he goes on to say that when we do ask our motives for asking really do play a vital factor in our
effectiveness. James 4:3 says, When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Our Lord looks beyond our actions and looks upon
our heart motives when we come to Him in prayer. Our motives play an important part of our asking.
This passage points out that those who were asking did so, because they were concerned with their own
pleasures. There seemed to be little or no concern for the will of God in their praying. They were
concerned primarily with their wants, their needs, and their desires, for their pleasures. I am concerned
that our effectiveness in prayer is hindered because our theological perspectives tend to be more man
centered than God centered.

Timothy Keller’s book on prayer begins by recognizing that prayer is a global phenomenon. You can
search every major religion in the world and find that prayer is universal. Keller believes that the reason
for this is that “the seed of religion is planted in all human beings”. This is because we are created in the

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