Predestination and Prayer

If everything is predetermined by God and our paths chosen what is the point in praying for anything?

Predestination is something according to Paul that we should praise God for! (Eph 1), not something to argue about. It is something that should bring security. God has chosen us since before the foundation of the world. Though the Bible is also clear that this does not remove our accountability for our decision about whether to trust Jesus as Saviour or not.

The source of prayer is the sovereign will of God, the motive for prayer is God acting, and the
enabler of prayer is the Holy Spirit. We learn to pray as we read God's word and discern his will, hence the importance of the Lord's prayer as it gives us a glimpse of God's concerns.

Our prayer should express our confidence in the God who works all thing according to his will, who can and will achieve his purposes. Prayer is not ineffective, God loves to hear his people pray and the Bible shows us many incidence of God responding to his people's prayers.

Why bother to pray? Because God tells us to pray. Jesus prays, even in Gethsemane though he has come for the very purpose of dying on the cross. We therefore ought to pray in part as recognition that we are dependent on God, but also as children who want to speak to their loving Father. Prayer is about relationship, and as God's children our prayers are to be centred on God’s desires his will, the family concerns.