Predestination, Prayer and Evangelism
Have you ever wondered why we should bother praying or evangelising when God has predestined everything that will happen? What’s the point of praying when God has already determined what he will do? Why bother evangelising when God has already determined those whom he will save? Is there an inherent contradiction between predestination and things like prayer and evangelism?
No Contradiction
Romans 8-11 contain some of the Bible’s most explicit teachings on predestination.
Romans 8:28-30 speaks about God’s foreknowledge and predestination of believers.
Romans 8:33 refers to “those whom God has chosen”.
Romans 9:11-18 discusses God’s sovereign choice in election, independent of human actions, using the example of Jacob and Esau and God’s dealings with Pharaoh.
Romans 9:21-24 likens God’s choosing to a potter moulding clay and even speaks of those whom God has “prepared for destruction”.
Romans 11:2 speaks again of God's foreknowledge.
Romans 11:5-7 speaks of a remnant elect chosen by grace, while the rest were hardened.
Romans 11:28-29 notes that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, meaning that his decisions and callings are permanent and based on His sovereign will.
Some pretty full-on stuff about predestination.
And yet, in Romans 10:1, Paul talks about his “heart’s desire and prayer to God” that people (the Israelites) “may be saved”.
And then, in Romans 10:14-15, he underscores the need for sharing the gospel:
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
We see a similar thing in Ephesians. In 1:3-14, Paul talks about the God who “works all things in conformity with his will” predestining a people before he created the world. And then, in 1:15-23, he breaks out into a prayer. Later in 3:8-9, he talks about his mission of sharing the gospel with the Gentiles. And then he turns to prayer in 3:16-19.
Clearly, for Paul, there is no conflict or contradiction between predestination and things like prayer and evangelism. Paul, Mr Predestination, is no stranger when it comes to prayer and evangelism. He devotes his entire Christian life to prayer and evangelism.
What Paul writes is Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16), all Scripture is from God (2 Timothy 3:16) and God does not lie or deceive us (Titus 1:2). Therefore, if it seems that there is a contradiction in the Bible, the problem must be with our understanding or interpretation, rather than Scripture itself.
Why We Pray and Evangelise
God doesn’t *need* our prayers. He doesn’t *need* our evangelistic efforts. But he loves to involve us in the action.
He wants to have a relationship with us, so much so that he created us, and then, when we sinned, he sent his Son to die to restore the relationship. Prayer is a part of that relationship.
And he wants to involve us in his purpose of establishing relationships with those who don’t yet know him. That’s why he calls us to evangelise. He could just drop Bibles out of the sky, with the page opened to John 3:16. But most of the time he chooses to use us.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Let’s keep doing those good works for which we were created, those which God prepared in advance for us to do.
