August 18 I Wednesday

Psalms 100-102

1 Corinthians 1

“…we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.”   —1 John 3:20

Another incommunicable attribute of God is the omniscience of God, which is the fact that God is all-knowing and there is no limit to His knowledge. I remember decades ago being at a prayer meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. A lady was praying and she was saying to God, “I don’t know if you know this yet, but…” and she told Him something that had just recently happened and what she thought He might do about it.

      When we pray to a God that is omniscient, He already knows it; hence, nothing ever catches God by surprise or takes Him off guard. Paul writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” (Romans 11:33-36).

      Because God knows everything there is to know, some of us believe God is responsible for everything, but knowledge does not equal in itself responsibility. For example, I was on a plane in Northern Ireland once, and I remember looking out the window and seeing a combine harvester coming with its wide front down filling a narrow road and a car coming the other direction. I thought, “this car and that combine harvester are going to meet in the middle.” The plane kept flying, so I do not know what happened exactly, but I had foreknowledge of that event compared to the drivers of the combine harvester and the car. Although I could see this happening from my position, I was not responsible for the fact that these two would meet, especially as the car was going pretty fast, and they would probably get into some trouble.

      Some of us may wonder, if God knows everything there is to know, then what is the point of praying? In fact, if we combine this question with the omnipotence of God, we may say if God is all-powerful and all-knowing, what is the point of spending time praying, telling God things He already knows or suggesting things He should do, when in His sovereignty and His omnipotence He has decided either to do or not to do anyway?

      As Oswald Chambers once said, “Prayer is not getting things from God, that is the most initial stage; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God; I tell Him what I know He knows in order that I may get to know it as He does.” We are limited in our knowledge and scope, but we can pray to a God who is omniscient, and see our situations in His eyes.

Prayer: All-knowing God, help me turn to You especially when I face situations beyond my understanding. I am thankful that I can pray to You who not only knows all things, but has compassion and love over me. Praise You!