Why Pray For What God Has Already Promised

This week as we began our sermon series in the book of Philippians we encountered an interesting phenomenon: Paul announced that he was confident the Lord would complete the work he had begun in them (Phil 1:6), but then went on (v9-11) to pray that God would do that same thing!

You might ask, “Why is Paul going to pray for all this if he’s already sure it will happen?” What’s the point in that?

Why pray for something you’re already certain will come to pass? It seems almost like adding items to your to-do-list that you’ve already completed just so you can get the satisfaction of checking them off.

This is part of a long biblical tradition where the Lord leads his people to pray for what he’s already said is a certainty.

For instance, Daniel was a prophet in captivity during Israel’s exile. The Lord had promised to bring the exiles back after 70 years. Excellent. No need to worry about that. If God has already announced his sovereign plan, there’s no need to fret.

But in Daniel chapter 9 we read:

1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

So Daniel recognizes that God has promised an exile of 70 years… and 70 years has passed. This is the time God has promised salvation. Then, he prays. He asks God to do the thing he promised: restore the people and the temple:

17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. [That is, restore the Temple and Jerusalem with it.]

But why bother? God’s already promised to do this. It’s not a matter of asking.

So why pray for what God has already promised?

The Lord delights to include his people in his work. He chooses to bring about his will, even his already-declared promises, by the prayers of his saints.

So is prayer an afterthought? A formality? No. Prayer is God’s ordained way for God’s people to engage in his own ministry in this world. Your prayer is not a formality. Your prayer is not wasted. Your prayer, because God has deemed it so, is powerful.

What a delight. What a privilege. What a mystery. What a joy.

That’s why Paul is praying about this. He has confidence that the Lord has indeed promised:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
John 10:27–28

That’s why he can say, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

And he recognizes that the Lord has established this principle: We get to participate in his good works, even the the things he sovereignly brings about by his divine power… we get to participate in his ministry and mission through our prayers.