As Christians, we believe that God is sovereign, that He has control over everything that happens. Not even a sparrow may fall to the ground without His permission (Matthew 10:29). His sovereign plan for the entire universe was laid out before the beginning of time, and He doesn’t change His mind (Numbers 23:19).
But if He indeed has control over all things and He already knows what He is going to do, wouldn’t that negate the purpose of prayer? After all, aren’t our words powerless to change what He has already predestined to happen?
In this article, we explain why God’s sovereignty and prayer are not contradictory but rather complementary. But first, let’s take a look at what prayer is not. Then we’ll get to what prayer is and why we should pray.
What Prayer is Not
A Genie in a Bottle
There is nothing magical about prayer. We must not think of prayer as if it were a means to get whatever we want or a way to manipulate God to our service. Prayer isn’t about getting our own way. God isn’t our genie. And He doesn’t promise to grant us three wishes.
A Negotiation
Prayer also isn’t a negotiation. It doesn’t give us any brownie points before God, and it doesn’t serve as a way for us to bargain with Him. We don’t get to make any demands, and we don’t get to give God a counteroffer in an attempt to compromise with Him.

What Prayer Is and Why We Should Pray
Now that we’ve seen what prayer isn’t, let’s look at what prayer is and why it is an important spiritual discipline in the lives of all believers.
A Command
First and foremost, Christians must pray because prayer is a command in the Bible. In other words, prayer is not optional but required. We are to pray for one another (James 5:16), pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44), and pray in secret (Matthew 6:6). We must pray at all times (Ephesians 6:18), pray to combat anxiety (Philippians 4:6), and pray without anger or quarreling (1 Timothy 2:8). We are also instructed to pray without giving up (Luke 18:1) and to devote ourselves to prayer (Colossians 4:2).
There is simply no way to get around the fact that God has given us clear instructions to pray. So, the first reason we pray even though God is sovereign is because He has sovereignly commanded it.
About More Than Making Requests
Sometimes, we reduce prayer to the act of making requests. But when we do this, we fall into the “Genie in a Bottle” error that we talked about earlier. In reality, prayer is about so much more than just making requests.
There is a popular acronym that makes it easy to remember the different elements of prayer. It’s called ACTS. With this acronym, the “A” stands for adoration, the “C” stands for confession, the “T” stands for thanksgiving, and the “S” stands for supplication.
Notice how different this kind of prayer looks. It includes praising God and worshipping Him for who He is. It has a time of confession when we get to reflect on our sins and repent from them. Then, we get to remember all the good gifts that we have received from God and show Him our gratitude. These three elements help us to see God’s character and grow in holiness ourselves. And once our heart is in this posture, we then get to make our requests to God.
Prayer is a beautiful act of worship that molds our hearts to be more like the heart of God. And when we pray this way, it becomes clear that prayer is not inconsistent with God’s sovereignty. Rather, God sovereignly established prayer as a means to grow us in our sanctification journey.

A Way to Grow in the Fruit of the Spirit
Prayer changes us. Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit uses our prayers to help us grow in the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).
When we are lacking in love and pray for the people around us, we begin to see them the way God sees them. When we are struggling to live in joy, we get to be reminded of the eternal hope that God alone provides. When we are anxious, we get to lay all our worries at His feet.
Prayer helps us imitate the kindness of God when we interact with the people around us, and it helps orient our minds to choose good over evil. Prayer reminds us of God’s faithfulness and shapes us to live faithfully.
When we lift up prayer during times of anger, we begin to feel our hearts softening in gentleness. And prayer is certainly a tool that we use to bring about self-control. Prayer isn’t about usurping the sovereign decisions of God. It is about enacting His sovereign will in and through our lives.

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