Prayer And God’s Omniscience -- By: Geoffrey Stertz

Journal: Maranatha Baptist Theological Journal
Volume: MBTJ 02:1 (Spring 2012)
Article: Prayer And God’s Omniscience
Author: Geoffrey Stertz


Prayer And God’s Omniscience

Geoffrey Stertz1

Does God hear and answer the prayers of his saints? Is prayer for the sake of the saint or of God or both? Does God change his plans on account of the believer’s prayer? Can God, who is immutable, change at all? Is it possible to consider him to be consistently loving in regards to answering prayer when his will has already been established? Since God already knows what is going to take place, is there any valid reason to pray?

There is one other significant question. How does prayer relate theologically to God’s omniscience? The purpose of this article is to examine this question and attempt to determine how prayer relates to the omniscience of God. The article will expand on the question of this relationship, trace the topic briefly through both the Old and New Testaments, and investigate how it has been handled throughout church history. Finally, the author will present a theological and practical conclusion on the matter.

How Prayer Relates To The Omniscience Of God

Certainly as one explores any infinite attribute of God, he is left with gaps in his theology due to the finiteness of his understanding. One should be cautious in adopting a theology of God that does not recognize the depth of God’s being. Such attempts at theology have led some to veer toward ungrounded philosophy rather than biblically-based theology. These gaps, if come to correctly, should not frustrate the Bible student but rather deepen his

appreciation for the fact that God is great and his greatness can forever be explored. However, rather than simply come to an understanding that gaps exist, the goal of the theologian should be to further define where the gaps exist.

Prayer is not only personal and regular for the believer, but it also defines the believer’s relationship to God to some extent. If a believer views prayer simply as a duty, his prayer life may be consistent, but it also might be consistently dull and shallow. If another views prayer as a means merely to achieve his desired goals, he may view it similarly to this author: “What counts is knowing who you want to be and asking for it. Through a simple, believing prayer, you can change your future. You can change what happens one minute from now.”2 It does not take long to realize how important it is for the believer to have a proper understanding of how his prayer relates to God.

A specific aspect of this understanding is how one views his prayer in relation to God’s omniscience. Christ states in

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