...we must remember that the Bible simultaneously pictures God as utterly sovereign, and as a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. Unless we perceive this, and learn how to act on these simultaneous truths, not only will our views of God be distorted, but our praying is likely to wobble back and forth between a resigned fatalism that asks for nothing and a badgering desperation that exhibits little real trust.
D.A. Carson, in A Call to Spiritual Reformation
Posted by apelles at October 1, 2003 10:50 PMI agree entirely and have given serious thought to that difficulty in my own prayers before. How should I pray when I can't seem to figure out what would be the best thing to pray for? Even last night while praying at a midweek church service, I caught myself wondering if my requests were really in keeping with God's will, then remembering that Moses prayed for something that he understood could be God's will and actually saw his request answered (contrary to what God had previously revealed to be His will for the Israel). I don't think this is one of the areas that I am (we are??) meant to quite comprehend (at least right now), so Carson's "simultaneous truths" seems a good way to describe the difficulty. In any case, I'm thankful for another way to exercize faith in simple, seemingly-contradictory Scripture.
Posted by: ajm at October 2, 2003 08:10 AMthanks, dave. i needed this. it's ironic how often i find myself coming to God on the basis of his sovereignty while at the same time disregarding my incumbent responsibility to submit to that same sovereignty.
i.e. obey and love the Giver, no matter what his gifts turn out to look like.
Posted by: joy at October 2, 2003 05:06 PM