Human Prayers and God's Global Purpose

While preparing for the message this Sunday morning (October 26th), I came across this quote from John Piper in his book What Jesus Demands from the World:


The Lord’s Prayer shows us the astonishing nature of prayer. It puts in the position of greatest importance the prayer for God’s name to be glorified, God’s kingdom to advance and triumph, and God’s will to be accomplished on earth the way it’s happening in heaven. This means that God intends to use human prayers to accomplish His most ultimate and universal purposes. For example, Jesus tells us to pray for the workers that will be required to spread the gospel to all the nations. ‘Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’ Yet nothing is more certain than that the kingdom of God will triumph. Jesus said, ‘I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’ (Matthew 16:18; 24:14). There is no uncertainty about the triumph of God. Nevertheless, in God’s providence it depends on human prayer.
This implies that prayer is not only the duty of man but a gift of God. Jesus will awaken in his people the spirit of prayer that asks for everything it will take to accomplish God’s purposes in the world. The prayers of Jesus’ followers and the purposes of God will not fail (p. 112).


Brothers and sisters in the Lord: Let us pray....