Today’s Scripture: Psalm 57:2

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.”

Prayer assumes the sovereignty of God. If God is not sovereign, we have no assurance that he’s able to answer our prayers. Our prayers would become nothing more than wishes. But while God’s sovereignty, along with his wisdom and love, is the foundation of our trust in him, prayer is the expression of that trust.

The Puritan preacher Thomas Lye wrote, “as prayer without faith is but a beating of the air, so trust without prayer [is] but a presumptuous bravado. He that promises to give, and bids us trust his promises, commands us to pray, and expects obedience to his commands. He will give, but not without our asking.”

While imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote to his friend Philemon, “Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers” (Philemon 22, NIV). Paul hoped to be restored but didn’t presume to know God’s secret will. He didn’t say, “I will be restored.” But he did know God in his sovereignty was well able to effect his release, so he asked Philemon to pray. Prayer was the expression of his confidence in the sovereignty of God.

John Flavel, another Puritan preacher, wrote a classic treatise titled The Mystery of Providence, first published in 1678. He began this treatise on God’s sovereign providence with a discourse on Psalm 57:2: “I cry out to God Most high, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” Flavel was saying that because God is sovereign, we should pray. God’s sovereignty does not negate our responsibility to pray, but rather makes it possible to pray with confidence. (Excerpt taken from Is God Really in Control?)

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