This was a comment made by Rebekah Reinagel in regards to the nature of prayer within the Calvinist system. She gave us permission to publish it here.
Calvinists pray, even though they “know” that God has everything decreed in advance. But here’s what I was wondering about: Do Calvinists seek the specific will of God?
And what I mean by that is that Arminians, in addition to following God’s moral law (i.e. Do not murder), also seek God’s will in specific situations in which it isn’t clear which way to go. For example, praying about whether to take a job or not. This presumes that God knows which is the better option, and it is an attempt to seek His will in the matter.
In Calvinism, though, there are only two wills of God: His revealed moral will (i.e. Do not murder) and what He decrees (which will happen with or without you seeking it, and does not necessarily contain your best interests). Now, whether God wants you to have that job or not (or to marry that person or not) is not part of His moral will, so that only leaves His decretive will — and there’s no point in seeking that … all you have to do is watch and see what happens.
So, do Calvinists seek the specific will of God? And if so, what excuse do they have to do so, given that they don’t believe in it? It’s very confusing to me. 🙂
