In light of recent events, I have been stirred to think much lately about prayer. As many of you already know, our friend and worship leader Tim was injured in a tragic event that resulted in a student’s death. I will not rehash all the details now, but if you are unfamiliar with the story, you can read Kurt’s blog here.

Often when tragedies like this occur, God’s people are moved into action through prayer. We pray for miracles. We pray for healing. We pray for the best outcome. Sometimes those things happen, but sometimes they don’t. In the hours following this particular tragedy, we scrambled for information and prayed as best we knew how. “God, please spare the lives of our friend and this student.”

We have since learned that many factors contributing to Tim’s survival had already begun to unfold before anyone had even been alerted to pray. God is certainly sovereign, and we praise Christ for that. But here then is the question: If these things had already begun to happen, did the prayers of God’s people have any affect? Would the outcome have been any different for either if believers had prayed more, or not prayed at all? What role does prayer play in these situations?

While I believe the Scriptures are clear about the sovereignty of God and His providence over everything, they also explain that God responds to the prayers of His people. In Exodus chapter 32, God explains to Moses that he is going to destroy the people of Israel for their sin, but Moses prays and asks God to turn from his wrath, and he does. James tells us in his letter, ‘You do not have, because you do not ask.” All throughout the Bible, we see God’s people humbling themselves and praying with faith, and God responding. We must believe that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).

However, sometimes the will of God trumps even our most fervent prayers. Jesus himself prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42). I am reminded too of King David, the man after God’s own heart, who “sought God on behalf of his child” and prayed that he would live, but it was not so. Even still, David arose and “went into the house of the LORD and worshiped” (2 Samuel 12:20).

So at the same time we praise our God and Father for allowing our friend Tim to live, and we grieve with Alex’s family and friends as they mourn his loss. We do not understand at this time what God’s purpose is in all of this; we may never fully know. But we do know that God is good, and his purposes are for his glory, and we know we must continue to pray.