Q. If God is already going to do what is best in a given situation, what is the point in praying?

The answer for questions like these depends on whether we believe all future events are already established within the mind of God: that is, whether we believe that God’s omniscience means that all future events are already known by God.

If we believe they are, then we have to explain why God wants various disasters to happen at particular times – both natural disasters and man-made disasters like wars and persecutions. And we also have to explain why we should bother to pray, since God already knows what will happen, and because God’s understanding of what events will take place can’t be wrong, that predestines these events to happen.

If, instead, we believe that it’s not the case that all future events are already established in the mind of God, then the future is open. That means events like hurricanes will sometimes happen, because God allows natural forces to be what they are: and humans will find sometimes themselves afflicted by such forces. Events like wars and persecutions will happen as well, and humans will find themselves afflicted by the sinful choices of others. The future is open: such events may happen, but they have not been scheduled. If that is correct, then not every event is controlled by God.

We see the openness of multiple possible futures both in the Bible and in our own lives. The Lord calls sinful people to turn and be forgiven. Affirming and rejecting God’s will are both real possibilities for them (Isaiah 1:18-20). We pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and thereby recognize that sometimes it isn’t. At points in our own lives we need to choose between options that will have very different effects.

Some people feel the “doctrine of God’s sovereignty” must mean that God controls every detail of the future. Yet we might acknowledge, instead, that God has made the sovereign decision to leave the future open, allowing natural forces to be what they are, and allowing humans to make real choices with real consequences.