Prayer | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

“If God is sovereign, then what is the point of prayer?” It’s an age-old, and understandable, question. Who hasn’t asked this? After all, if God is in complete control of the affairs of history, and perfect in wisdom, what difference do our measly prayers make? Won’t his will come to pass regardless of what we pray? So, why pray? As a result, unfortunately, many don’t.

Anytime we face a difficult question like this, it helps to step back and consider precisely what the Bible says.

“ASK, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN.” – Mt. 7:7

On, the one hand, there are many calls, commands, and invitations for us to pray. It is evident from these invitations that the authors did not see their prayers as meaningless words or wasted time. Rather, they saw prayer as achieving something.

• Jesus himself encourages us to pray, saying “Ask, and it will be given…” (Mt. 7:7f).
• There are over 20 references to prayer in the book of Acts (e.g. Acts 1:24; 4:31; 6:6).
• The Apostle Paul’s letters are filled with prayers (e.g. Col 1:3f; Eph. 3:14-20).
• Paul also regularly requested prayer, on one occasion saying, “Brothers, pray for us” (1 Thess. 5:25).
• Likewise, he encourages Jesus’ people to pray “at all times” (Eph. 6:18).
• James writes, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power…” (James 5:16) and notes that the reason we don’t have certain things is because we haven’t asked for them (James 4:2).

Even a cursory reading, of these few passages, indicates that our prayers matter to God. God wants us to pray. God hears our prayers. God answers the prayers of his people, according to his infallible knowledge.

“HE DOES ALL THAT HE PLEASES.” – Ps. 115:3

At the very same time, the Bible is emphatic that God is sovereign. God’s sovereignty refers to his ability to do anything that is in accordance with his character. In other words, he rules over the entire created order to bring about his pre-appointed purposes—which nothing can stop, not even evil.

• After all, he “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11)
• He does whatever he pleases (Ps. 115:3; Ps. 135:6).
• He “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3) and in him “all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).
• Even the decision of the dice “is from the Lord.” (Pr. 16:33).
• He also rules over geo-political affairs, making some nations great, while destroying others (Job 12:23).
• This is why Jesus can say that all things are possible with God (Mt. 19:26).

The overwhelming testimony of the Scripture is that God is sovereign. This is more significant than we tend to recognize. After all, if God is not sovereign, then why pray at all? We shouldn’t.

“THEY LIFTED THEIR VOICES TO GOD AND SAID, ‘SOVEREIGN LORD…’” – Acts 4:24

So, what do we do when faced with a biblically clear call to pray and an equally clear revelation of God’s sovereign power? Answer: We accept them both. There is no contradiction or inconsistency here.

“But, how does that work?” The answer of pastoral-theologians throughout the history of the church is that God has sovereignly ordained human prayer as a means by which he accomplishes his sovereign purposes. That’s a mouthful, so you may want to read that again.

God’s sovereignty doesn’t exclude our prayers, but includes our prayers to bring about his purposes. Let that sink in. God isn’t a fatalistic machine that mindlessly churns out his will. God is more like a skilled sovereign artist, who willfully includes our inferior prayers into his superior purposes. As such, our prayers serve as a means to his ends.

Understanding this changes how we pray. Knowledge of God’s sovereign purposes through our prayers brings significant purpose, confidence, and joy to our prayers. God’s sovereign artistry gives our prayers purpose because we trust they are chosen means of achieving his will in the world. God’s sovereign power gives us confidence in prayer because we trust he is more-than-able to bring about all that we ask. God’s sovereign wisdom gives us joy in prayer because we trust he will always do what is best.

In God’s economy, our prayers matter—more deeply than we know.

Praying with you and for you,
Pastor Adam

P.S. Also, please join us this coming Sunday, October 28th, for DCC’s bi-monthly prayer night. Doors will open at 5:00 pm. We’ll begin our evening of corporate devotion, song, and prayer promptly at 5:30 pm.

Discipleship, Uncategorized | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

The good news of Jesus, the gospel, is meant to be delivered (Mt. 28:19-20). 

The gospel is not a message meant to stay in place for long, let alone relegated to dusty doctrinal statements. The gospel is meant to move and spread, not sit still. 

By God’s good design, the primary deliverers of this message of Jesus are the people of Jesus. As Apostle Paul said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Rom. 10:15; cf. Isa. 52:7). Those gospel-delivering feet are not beautiful because they are well pedicured, but because the news they carry is of inestimable value. 

Think of the joy of seeing a young ring bearer deliver the bride’s ring to the groom during a wedding ceremony. All eyes are on him. The deliverer is honored because of the profound significance of his delivery. That delivery points to powerful relational realities and massive joy, hope, and love that flow from them. 

Now multiply that by eternity and you begin to scratch the surface of what’s at stake in delivering the gospel. That makes for beautiful feet.

These beautiful feet carry the gospel into our neighborhoods, condo buildings, grocery stores, cafés, schools, and offices. They make gospel deliveries while having lunch with friends, or riding the metro with a coworker, or talking on the phone with family. Yet, they don’t stop there.

The gospel is not content to stay at home. It is a power, the power of God for salvation, that pushes outward (Rom. 1:16); not only among the neighborhoods of our city, but among the nations of the world. 

Unsurprisingly, Jesus has the same delivery strategy for the nations, as he does our neighborhoods, namely our feet. Beautiful feet lead to glad nations that sing for joy (Ps. 67:4). With God, we want all the ends of the earth to be eternally glad, in Him (Ps. 67:7).

Therefore, to help facilitate DCCs part in the global movement of the gospel we are having our first missions meet-up this coming Sunday, October 21st. This is the first of what will be monthly meetings that will explore how we can participate in God’s global purpose to take the gospel to the nations through the reading of books, articles, biographies, and discussion. These meetings are intended for anyone interested in learning more about long-term global missions and catalyzing global church planting. 

How you can participate:

1. PRAY. Ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up global workers (Mt. 9:38). While you are at it, ask the Lord if you may be among them. We currently have three members training to reach unreached people groups. Lord willing, this is just the beginning. We hope to get to the place where we are able to send ten missionaries a year to help plant churches among unreached nations.
   
2. JOIN. Join the Global Missions Interest Group on The City here. Join the missions meet-up this Sunday. Consider devoting the next season to prayerfully exploring your role in Jesus’ unfolding global story. 
   
3. PARTNER. Together, our cheerful, sacrificial, and regular giving supports this ongoing spread of the gospel, from our neighborhoods to the nations. DCC gives 10% of all giving received to this work, from funding church plants, to supporting pastors, to training. Even this week, we are hosting an Acts 29 Assessment Conference for six church planting couples. We all play a role. Some of us will be called by God to go. The rest of us are called by God to fund those who do. 
   

Who knows what He may do through us? Let’s trust him together.

With you for the greatest cause on the planet,

Pastor Adam