Pray Like a Calvinist

If you are someone who believes free will is the ultimate decisive factor in whether or not someone will be saved, I would like to ask you a question. Why bother praying for your hard-hearted loved ones? You're not praying to change God's mind, right? Doesn't He already desire their salvation? If so, and you are praying for God to change the heart of your loved one, and you believe that He can in fact overcome their resistance to the gospel, then you don't really believe in free will. Rather, Christians pray believing that God is sovereign and more than able to melt hearts of stone, and turn the vilest of sinners into lovers of Christ. You see, when it comes to prayer, all Christians pray like Calvinists.

Inconsistency

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard Arminians (or anyone who opposes Reformed theology) pray things like, "Oh Lord please change his heart!" Or say things such as, "We cannot convert anyone, all we can do is share the gospel and pray. Only the Holy Spirit can change the heart." Wait a second...what did you just say? That sounds an awful lot like Calvinism to me.

I just want to go on record as saying that I agree with these sentiments wholeheartedly. They are entirely biblical. Only God can change a person's heart. The problem is, it doesn't follow consistently with Arminian theology.

Simply put, those who promote free will and reject the doctrines of grace believe that God is "trying" to save everyone, but it is up to each individual to exercise their will and respond to the gospel. Yes, everyone is commanded to respond to the gospel, but as I addressed in a previous post, this doesn't mean unconverted people have the ability to do so. Jesus said that no one has the ability to come to Him unless the Father grants them that ability, (John 6:44, 65). The real question Arminians need to answer is why some respond to the gospel and others do not. This is their Achilles heel.

When someone with no desire for Christ hears the gospel, what is it that changes their mind exactly? Do they come to Christ on their own? Of course not; all Arminians believe that it is impossible to be saved apart from the grace of God. They just don't go far enough. They say grace is necessary for salvation, but not sufficient. The problem here, is that if everyone receives what they call "prevenient grace" why is this grace effectual in the hearts of some and ineffectual in others? What exactly makes someone willing? It seems like the only logical response is to say the human will has the ultimate decisive power. God's grace doesn't get the job done. You may have heard preachers say, "God is voting for you, and Satan is voting against you, but you have the final vote. If this is true, then salvation is contingent upon the human will, not upon God.

In the final analysis, although Arminians would never say this, this makes God powerless. He may desire to save someone, but is unable to do so because their free will thwarts Him. This makes man sovereign because he can thwart the very purposes of Almighty God. Again, Arminians wouldn't say this, but this is the logical conclusion of their theology.

Prayer

The irony comes into play when those who espouse this kind of philosophy pray for God to save someone. Doesn't that require God to violate a person's free will? If they believe prayer can actually change someone's heart, then they are conceding that God intervenes by His sovereign power to change the disposition of men's hearts, yet this is antithetical to free-willism.

Those who oppose Reformed theology often accuse us of futility when it comes to prayer. The argument goes something like this: "Why do you Calvinists bother praying at all? If God has chosen from all eternity to save someone; He's going to save them no matter what. So why bother praying for their salvation? Why bother even preaching the gospel?" This kind of reasoning shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what Reformed theology teaches. We believe that God uses means to accomplish His eternal purposes. So God may have chosen to save Johnny unconditionally before the foundation of the world, but my prayers and witness may be the means by which Johnny is brought into the kingdom. He has not only ordained Johnny's salvation, but the means by which it is brought about. No one knows the identity of the elect; in fact, the identity of the elect is totally irrelevant to evangelism. We simply do what the Bible tells us to do. We preach the gospel and command people to repent and believe. Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17) so God uses the means of preaching and prayer to bring about the salvation of His elect people.

"For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God," 1 Cor. 1:22-24.

What is it in this passage that makes the preaching of Christ crucified cease to be a stumbling block or foolishness? "...those who are called," that's the difference. To the ones who are called, Christ crucified is no longer foolishness, but wisdom. When God calls someone unto salvation, He does so effectually (John 6:37, Rom. 8:30).

Conclusion

So if you're an Arminian and you are praying for a change of heart in the life of an unbeliever, I commend you. Just be aware that it is inconsistent with your theology. You're actually praying like a Calvinist; like a Christian ought to pray, because we trust that God is omnipotent. He is able to remove hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh (Ezek. 36:26). We pray with confidence knowing that nothing is impossible for God. No amount of resistance to the gospel can hinder the power of the Holy Spirit. Whether the hardest atheist or the most wicked murderer, no one is beyond the grace of God.