This week’s post deviates a bit from previous posts in that we’re not building off of what’s been written as much as I wanted to share about something that’s been a matter of conscience recently.
I have a long way to go in cultivating my prayer life with the Lord. I am as prone as anyone to remain too busy, to give up too easily, to have low expectations, or to neglect the Lord altogether in prayer. As I write this I feel challenged to change and to live what I endeavor to offer in this post. There are many ways to speak about prayer, from making an appointment with God at a fixed point early in the day, praying Scripture, ‘checking in’ with the Lord at various points throughout the day, distinguishing various kinds of prayer, praying fixed forms of prayer, etc. Today, I would like to offer a gracious critique of a refrain I have often heard stated at the end of a prayer or stated in response to someone else’s prayer request. The oft repeated refrain, in so many words, is ‘If It Be Thy/His Will” …
Various theological traditions, especially the Reformed, strongly distinguish between God's revealed (prescriptive) will and His sovereign (secret) will. As Moses said ..
Deuteronomy 29:29: The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
I love and affirm this distinction, but I take exception with what I believe is the misplaced and oft repeated “If it be Thy/His Will” in context of prayer or in context of sharing a prayer request. Pursuant to the virtue of piety, namely the recognition that God alone knows and has His own prerogative for history that He will accomplish through or despite our prayers, we ironically implicate the very secret will of God that we simultaneously believe should not be presumed upon. Trust in God's sovereignty means standing reverently before the curtain of His hidden will, content with what is concealed. Yet too often, "if it be Thy will" becomes our hand on the fabric, stretching and reshaping it, not to understand God’s purposes but to sidestep the boldness His Word calls us to in prayer. For example …
Mary tells Sally that she’s really praying about a school she wants to get into, a spouse she wants to find, or a job she wants to land, and asks Sally to join her in prayer on the matter. Sally, well intended and wanting to reassure Mary that God is in control of the outcome, responds by saying ‘If it’s God’s will then it will happen”.
John had a traumatic brain injury and now suffers from residual effects to this day. He goes forward during a Sunday service for prayer. A well-meaning intercessor prays over John along the lines of “God, if it be your will, please heal John”.
What do these refrains have in common? They seek to remind the requestor or the intercessor themselves that God is in control, that it will all pan out in the end. In of itself, this is all well and good and true. The problem is, and I mean this sincerely, there is nothing like an “If It Be Thy Will” to suck the faith and the boldness and the expectation right out of a room and to miss the point of supplicative prayer altogether, which is to bring the sovereign will of God to bear in time per our bold, faith filled requests.
Let’s continue building on this by isolating a couple of usages of such language in Scripture to see its place.
James 4:13–15: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”
James is addressing arrogant presumption, not prayerful asking. It's about planning without reference to God’s sovereignty—not about pleading promises in prayer. What does James have to say about prayer?
James 4:2: You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.
A preacher man once said, “The verse doesn’t mean the opposite of what it says!”. In other words, it does not say that even if you do not ask, you’ll get it because God’s will is going to be done. The problem I’m highlighting is that some circles subtly confuse God's secret will (what He has ordained but we do not know) with His revealed invitations (what He tells us to seek boldly). When we constantly refer back to the secret will, prayer loses its boldness and shrinks into cautious passivity.
But when you look at Jesus' teaching on prayer, He strikes a very different tone than the "if it be Thy will" approach when making requests.
1. Bold, Persistent Prayer – Luke 18:1–8 (Parable of the Persistent Widow)
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
(The widow keeps coming to the unjust judge until he finally grants her request.)
Takeaway:
Persistence is commanded, not passive resignation.
Jesus honors faith that refuses to give up.
2. Expectant Asking – Matthew 7:7–11
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives…”
Takeaway:
Jesus invites bold expectation.
He appeals to God's character as a good Father who gives good things to those who ask.
3. Shameless Boldness – Luke 11:5–13 (Parable of the Friend at Midnight)
“…because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.” (v. 8)
Takeaway:
"Impudence" (Gk. anaideia) = shameless boldness.
Jesus praises a kind of prayer that is almost daring.
So, my challenge to myself is to pray like Jesus taught, the ‘Our Father’ included. What might other church doctors have said on the subject, including those having a high view of God’s sovereignty? John Calvin said the following:
“We know that God’s providence keeps the world in being, and yet we are bidden to pray that it may be done on earth as it is in heaven…so utterly foolish is it to take refuge in God’s secret decrees, as to say that we must not pray because God has determined once for all what he wishes to happen.” (Institutes, III.20.3)
And even more pointedly:
“We are not to frame our prayers according to our wishes, but to rest entirely in God’s promises, and to plead them boldly.” (Institutes, III.20.13).
On a sure hope of succeeding:
"We ought to be animated to prayer by a sure hope of succeeding, since the Lord promises that whatever we ask we shall receive. He does not bid us depend on our own merits, or hold that our prayers will be listened to on their account, but that our hope is founded on his promises.” (Institutes III.20.11)
On faith reaching into the unseen:
“Although our faith may be small, we must not yield to despondency, but press onward with trembling steps... not doubting that our petitions have already been granted.” (Institutes III.20.13).
I pray this post is both an encouragement and a challenge — and maybe even a loving correction. Let’s pray bold, persistent prays precisely because we know God’s will is going to be done. We can rest assured that we’re not peaking behind the curtain in so doing.
Pro Rege!