“But if God knows what things we have need of, before we
ask him, where lies the advantage of prayer? If he is ready, of his own
free will, to assist us, what purpose does it serve to employ our prayers,
which interrupt the spontaneous course of his providence? The very design of
prayer furnishes an easy answer. Believers do not pray, with the view of
informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty,
or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray, in
order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their
faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from
their anxieties by pouring them into his bosom; in a word, that they may
declare that from Him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for
others, all good things. God himself, on the other hand, has purposed freely,
and without being asked, to bestow blessings upon us; but he promises that he
will grant them to our prayers. We must, therefore, maintain both of these
truths, that He freely anticipates our wishes, and yet that we obtain by prayer
what we ask. As to the reason why he sometimes delays long to answer us, and
sometimes even does not grant our wishes, an opportunity of considering it will
afterwards occur.”
John Calvin
Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, volume 1
