The Petitionary Prayer Process

(Before I begin, I must give props to Michael J. Murray and Kurt Meyers for writing an article in the Philosophy and Faith textbook (edited by David Shatz) that got me to ponder this topic. They also provided the framework for some of the arguments and counter-arguments presented here).

Have you ever wondered, "Why do I make requests to God?" The simple answer is: because God says so (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:28, James 5:16, to name a few).

That answer is sufficient. Yet, it seems that if one understood the petitionary prayer process, one would have a greater motivation to pray.

A volley of questions now ensues:

Does not God always do what is ultimately best in a given situation? When a believer requests something that is in His will, was God already going to perform the act? If so, then why ask in the first place? If not, then why does God change his course of action based on human request? Can one add to the wisdom of God? Or does anyone have insight that God does not possess?

One might say, "Making requests to God draws me closer to Him." Another might say, "Petitioning God helps me recognize my dependence on Him." (Really, these are the same).

Yet someone might respond, "Does He not give you other methods of drawing close to Him/recognizing dependence on Him, such as reading, studying, meditating and memorizing His Word? Or by exhortation from other believers? Or by praising God? Or thanking Him? Or confessing sin?"

Here is my understanding of the petitionary prayer process (feel free to offer objections or alternative viewpoints):

1. God wants event X to occur
2. God moves in the heart of a believer to pray that event X will occur
3. A believer feels a desire to pray for the occurence of event X and does so.
4. God responds to the prayer of a believer and causes event X to occur.

This understanding of petitionary prayer both upholds God's omnibenevolence and sovereignty (in other words, He has the desire and power to do what is ultimately best) while maintaining the efficacy of the believer's prayer (in other words, the prayer of the believer had a real impact on the outcome of event X).

Now, the immediate objection is: "Well, that's terribly inefficient! Why doesn't God skip steps 2, 3, and 4a and go straight from 1 to 4b?"

My response: God is more glorified in the case where He causes the event He wants to occur after a believer prays for it than by simply causing the event to occur.

Of course, even if this response is accepted, there are still unresolved problems. For instance, if no one prayed for the world to be created, and God is more glorified when He responds to the prayers of believers, then did God choose a less glorious route by creating the world and man without involving the prayers of the saints?