So I have been reading through the Screwtape Letters recently, and I must say it is a great read. C.S. Lewis uses the perspective of demons tempting mankind to talk about the dangers of temptation and also to highlight how we might be tempted without even realizing it. He also uses the context to bring up some otherwise difficult-to-discuss topics and concepts that we might not otherwise contemplate.
In one of the chapters I was reading today (I've tried to only read one or two at a time, because otherwise it is too difficult to reflect on the topics brought up), Screwtape (the experienced demon writing to his less-experienced demon nephew) brings up the prayer life of the man Wormwood (his nephew) is in charge of tempting. While the man has been concerned about the oncoming war with the Germans (he is English at the onset of WWII), his prayer life has reflected that concern as well as many petitions for virtue and safety. Screwtape voices his concerns over the man's prayers, as even simple prayers can bring one closer to the Enemy (God).
He goes into a short discussion of the efficacy of prayer as it relates to free will and God's omniscience, which got me to thinking about it myself. The problem is as follows: God knows everything, including everything that we are going to think, say, and do. However, He also has given us what we call Free Will, the ability to pick and choose what we say and do, and to some degree what we think as well. But if God already knows what we are going to say and do, and consequently what we are going to ask for in prayer, if He answers it, did we really have free choice to pray that to begin with? The example in the book was in regard to the weather. If I pray for good weather for the weekend, and it happens, did it really matter at all if I prayed that? God set in motion natural laws that dictate how the weather functions at the beginning of Creation, so wouldn't the weather have been nice regardless of what I prayed? Or, on the flipside, if God is answering that prayer, He knew I was going to pray for that when He set everything in motion, so hadn't He already set the weather patterns in motion then to make it nice weather, before I had technically prayed for it? The dilemma is whether or not I really needed to pray for it, or if I my prayers really had any impact on the outcome at all. Does God change the natural order of things to answer our prayers?
To answer that immediate question, I would say there are evidences in Scripture that on occasion, God does step in and alter the natural order of things for the sake of us. Joshua with his Sun Stand Still prayer, Moses parting the Red Sea, Jesus with his feeding and healing the multitudes, and so on. But I think there is more to it than that. I do not believe that God has alter reality to answer every single one of our prayers.
I think I share the conclusion that Lewis was alluding to in the Screwtape Letters. Where we typically fail in understanding this is in our perspective. Being men and women created within the confines of time, we are bound to a perspective that sees life in a "Past," "Present," and "Future" tense. There is stuff that has happened before, stuff that is happening now, and stuff that has yet to happen. But from God's perspective, all those distinctions are washed away. He exists outside of our concept of time, and therefore sees everything as one cohesive whole. Where we see Past, Present, and Future, He sees What Is. I like to think of it as a massive tapestry that He has woven together.
With this perspective in mind, I then approach the concept of prayer and His Omniscience. He hears our prayers, all of them, and weaves His answers into His Creation, as He is creating it. He has an overall, big picture, plan of how His Creation and His Will are going to play out, but within that there is freedom for diversity, change, and answering the prayers of His people. When it comes to answering prayers that fall outside the realm of His overall plan (meaning they do not affect it), there are some He can say yes to, and others He cannot. Maybe a "good weather weekend" would affect the flowers as they come into bloom, so He chooses not to acquiesce to that request for the sake of the beauty of His Creation. Or perhaps without the rain other people would suffer (like farmers). Either way, there would be a lot to take into consideration when looking at it from this grand a scale, so it would be hard for us to pinpoint why God answers some prayers with a yes, and not others. I think ultimately, however, that He takes pleasure in granting our requests and seeks to do so. He is a good, good father after all.
To put it a little more clearly, I think that God is able to see/hear all prayers from outside of time, which allows Him to put the world as it is, answering those prayers in the process.
I think He uses those times when He "breaks" the natural order of things to demonstrate to us His power more directly. Many times we need those "signs and wonders" to wake us up to who He really is, not just some old guy in the sky, but the majestic ruler of the universe.
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