A few months ago, I happened upon a little book by the Puritan pastor John Flavel entitled The Mystery of Providence. Far from a chance occurrence, I am sure, it has been a blessing to me. In this book, Flavel exhorts us to consider, in our prayer time, the many ways in which God has arranged the events in our lives in order to bless us. He outlines both the duty and reasons we are called to do so, as well as the many benefits that derive from such reflection.

We hold as an essential truth the concept of the Sovereignty of God, and value greatly His Providential work in our lives. Providence, as it is described in Chapter 5 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, is the ordering of all things by God for His glory, and for the good of His people. God acts, through ordinary means, to provide both physical and spiritual benefits to those of us who call Him Father. These acts of Providence may come in response to prayer, or they may be completely unexpected mercies. They may range from a "chance" meeting between friends, to the provision of food in a needful circumstance, to that most powerful act of Providence of all--the conversion of the unbeliever unto Christ. Through the latter, which Flavel calls "the most excellent benefit you ever received from His hand," God the Father calls His sheep into His fold.

It is a mystery how in all things God is true to His name, Jehovah Jireh (the Lord who Provides), but He is, and does provide (wonderfully so) even through the acts of sinful men. We see this fact highlighted in Acts 4:27-28, with respect to the condemnation and crucifixion of Christ. No doubt may there be that this was the most important act of providence the world has seen, yet God’s Will was carried out unwittingly by the likes of Herod and Pilate. Another example may be found in Genesis 50:20, in which Joseph relates his understanding that his slavery was used by God for good. In order to provide for His people, God is prepared to act through a wide variety of human agents, often in ways we can’t perceive, or even understand.

While this does perhaps seem very odd, since many actions of non-believers are thoroughly sinful in motive, it can and should give us a sense of security. Isn’t it wonderful to consider that God can and will work, even through their sin, to provide for our well-being? Even more, let it be said (with thanksgiving) that God’s Providential work originates not because of our faithfulness, but His! God ultimately works through our often feeble attempts (which may seem outwardly to fail) to serve Him, and to serve each other. The Apostle Paul describes God in Romans 8:28 as working through not only the willful, considered actions of Christians, but all things, good as well as bad! We can, therefore, be confident that all things, whether we understand them or not, will in the end work out for our good, through God’s Providential hand.

Let us consider now the relationship between the Providence of our Sovereign God and the prayers we offer up in supplication to Him. At first glance, these two concepts may appear to be antithetical. When one has grasped the fact that God’s providential acts are already part of His eternal design, prayer may seem to be unnecessary. One might reason that since God truly knows all things, and is prepared to bless His children with every good thing, why on earth would it be necessary for us to pray for anything? Given that He has fore-ordained for us all the good and perfect gifts that we shall receive, what purpose does it serve God for us to pray to Him for those very things? While these questions can indeed logically follow from the premise of God’s Sovereignty, and may certainly arise from honest inquiry, they land a bit wide of the mark. Our prayers have a multitude of purposes, not the least of which is directed towards our growth, as John Calvin notes in his Institutes of the Christian Religion:

”But, someone will say, does God not know, even without being reminded, both in what respect we are troubled and what is expedient for us, so that it may seem in a sense superfluous that he should be stirred up by our prayers - as if he were drowsily blinking or even sleeping until he is aroused by our voice? But they who thus reason do not observe to what end the Lord instructed his people to pray, for he ordained it not so much for his own sake as for ours” (Chapter XX, Book III).

In other words, the reason we pray is not to inform our God of our troubles, as if they were “news” to Him. Neither is prayer a tool by which we manipulate the Will of God. These facts, as Calvin argued, do not excuse us from the duty to pray to God for comfort in difficult situations, or for the fulfillment of our needs and those of our neighbors. How these prayers fall into the grand scheme of God’s eternal plan is an enormous question. Something that we can be sure of, though, is that those very prayers are used by God for His purposes ñ for our good, not so much for His information.

Our prayers, just as our physical acts, are used by God to accomplish His Will. In acknowledging this, we mustn’t fall into the mistaken notion that God’s Will, or His Providence are impersonal, like the Greek conception of fate. On the contrary, they are a supreme outgrowth of His boundless love for us. We are called into a relationship with a loving God, and to walk with Him in that love (I John 4). As we pray that we be used by Him to perform His work, we are strengthened and affirmed as His children. We are commanded to pray for each other - our prayers of intercession for our sick or disadvantaged brethren may be used mightily in God’s eternal plan, may they not? Whether they stir us into action to be of more tangible service, or whether they are of aid in some unforeseen way, they may be one of the many secondary causes God employs in His Providence for His children. Prayer, then, is not something to be laid aside lightly. Rather, our prayers are integral to our relationship with God. He acts through them, and if we are cognizant of that work, we will grow in faith in Him, obtaining great joy in our knowledge that God hears our prayers.

Flavel recommends that we consciously spend time meditating upon God’s acts of Providence, and the ways in which His Will has been made manifest in our lives. Through such meditation, we shall learn to behold more clearly His wonderful graces and mercies and to acknowledge His guiding hand upon our lives. We will be blessed by learning this vital skill and aid to greater faith. As John Preston said in his sermon series on prayer, “We lack faith in His power and in His providence. We do not consider that He has that disposing hand which He has in everything that belongs to us in health, in sickness, in poverty, in riches, in good success, and ill success. For, if we saw the providence of God and acknowledged it more readily, we should be ready to call upon Him. But the lack of faith in His providence, that the Lord is not seen in His greatness and mighty power, causes men to be backward to seek Him but very forward to seek the creature.” How true this is. By seeking out the ways in which God has provided for us, as we seemingly stumble blindly through our lives, we can avoid the tendency we have to place confidence in our own works. Instead, we shall grow to trust the Lord more fully in His provision for us, and in the goodness of His Will.

If we learn to find God’s hand in our everyday affairs how much more shall we be ready to praise and exalt Him? How much more shall we desire to talk about Him with others?

Again, Calvin notes, “For having disclosed to the Lord the necessity that was pressing upon us, we even rest fully in the thought that none of our ills is hid from him who, we are convinced, has both the will and the power to take the best care of us.” As we bring our prayers of supplication to our Father, knowing well that He intends to keep His promise to us to work all things for our good, can our faith do anything but grow? When we have developed the eyes of faith to see that God indeed answers our prayers, and blesses us with all manner of merciful gifts, what can we be but thankful? As we note day by day, and year by year, the ways in which our prayers have been answered by God’s provision, we can only find it easier and more natural to present Him with the open desires of our hearts. Furthermore, our desires, through these prayers, will grow to be more conformed to His Will, and to gladly submit ourselves to it.

Echoing these thoughts, Flavel writes, “The due observation of Providence will endear Jesus Christ every day more and more to your souls. Christ is the channel of grace and mercy. Through Him are all the streams of mercy that flow from God to us, and all the returns of praise from us to God (I Cor. 3:21,22). All things are ours upon no other title than our being His.”

As we learn in this life to be perceptive to God’s acts of Providence in our lives, we can begin to understand the vastness of His Love for us, which we will have throughout eternity. That understanding can be, in a sense, a foretaste of Heaven. In the introduction of his book, Flavel comments, “Oh how ravishing and delectable a sight will it be to behold at one view in the whole design of Providence, and the proper place and use of every single act, which we could not understand in this world!” May the joy and confidence we receive through reflection upon God’s Providential work on our behalf drive us all to the foot of the Cross, to seek Him more fully and to worship Him in truth.