A Calvinist Prayer

Prayer must be boring for a Calvinist.

Let me explain how I arrived at this opinion, and it is only my opinion but it began to be formed by reading Arthur Pink.

Years ago I was his book The Sovereignty of God. I came to his chapter on the sovereignty of God and prayer. I re-read that chapter last week in preparation for a message on prayer. It seems to boil down to this, “The Calvinist prays because God has commanded him to pray”.

Now I don’t doubt the passion or sincerity of a praying (and obedient) Calvinist but it seems that for the Calvinist prayer really effects no change. Everything has already been decided. In fact another writer puts it this way “The first thing is this: that the God who set His plan in stone before the earth was created included prayer in His plan to accomplish His will. The same God who decreed this plan even before creation, included prayer in His plan to accomplish His will.”

So prayer has already been assumed in the divine providence of God and things only happen through predetermined prayer. So when God hears that prayer that was predetermined he can push the next button since prayer was already built into the plan.

All this sounds rather sterile to me. Or am I missing something?

In the 1800’s Charles Spurgeon preached a message entitled “The Arminian Prayer” which contained the prayer of an Arminian..

"Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free-will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not—that is the difference between me and them."

With that background I am taking the liberty of writing A Calvinist Prayer.

Sovereign Lord, the One who has already predetermined all things, even this prayer at this time on behalf of these people. I come in obedience to pray believing that these words were already heard before the foundation of the world and have been already taken into consideration as you set worked out your plans. Your will be done, and it will be. Amen

I really doubt that any Calvinist prays this way but why not? Isn’t this a prayer consistent with the teaching of Calvinism?

For the record I am neither an Arminian nor a Calvinist (That part is obvious.) But I am a person interested in the power of prayer and I can’t see that in Calvinism.

I actually resist the attempt to categorize one’s beliefs on the basis of systems that have only been around for 500 years—Calvinism or Arminianism. Could it be that when it comes to such a thing as prayer there is still some mystery that neither system has been able to discover?