But God also determined that Moses, Hannah, and Elijah would pray for those events, such that the events would not have taken place if they did not pray for them. 18–19). The events God had already determined came to pass. 11), Hannah prayed for a child (1 Sam. 1), and Elijah prayed for drought and then rain (1 Kgs. Moses prayed for food and water for the Israelites (Exod. 15 and Num. In both Scripture and our experience, God responds to prayer. ‘We must never presume God will grant us apart from prayer what he has ordained to grant us only by means of prayer.’ Some things have happened only because they were prayed for they would not have happened if they were not prayed for. What happens in the future, then, does depend on what we do and pray in the present. ![]() God governs all events in his universe-including the “small” ones leading up to the “big” ones. God not only ordains ends, he also ordains means. He plans the destination and the entire journey to get there. When God determined that Christ would die on the cross, he also determined the means by which he was killed, the means by which he was delivered to the authorities, and the means by which he was betrayed. But so is every other event leading up to that moment-including the prayers offered on Sally’s behalf. Suppose God has determined to heal Sally of cancer three months from now it will happen and cannot fail to happen. It holds that God fixes some, but not all, future events in place. ![]() Some Christians, both Calvinists and non-Calvinists, think of God’s providence in this incorrect way: “If God has determined every future event, then my choices don’t affect the future.”įatalism is both philosophically and theologically impoverished. This is not to be confused with fatalism. Fatalism is the view that our choices don’t affect the future. At each moment there is only one possible future: the future God has determined. Most Calvinists believe in a form of determinism-that is, God has determined every single event. It’s important to distinguish between determinism and fatalism.
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