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"YOUR FATHER KNOWS WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU ASK":
THE IMPLICATIONS OF MATTHEW 6 FOR THE
OPEN VIEW OF PETITIONARY PRAYER
Steven C. Roy, Ph.D.
ETS Annual Meeting, Colorado Springs, CO
November 16, 2001
Copyright © 2001 by Steven C. Roy
One of the primary benefits that is often claimed by proponents of the open view
of God and his relationship to human beings involves petitionary prayer. Indeed, open theists
often claim that their model bests accounts for the reality and the efficacy of petitionary prayer.
David Basinger is representative, I believe, when he writes that,
Those who affirm the open model believe the status of petitionary prayer within this
model to be one of its most attractive features.
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Another example comes from Greg Boyd who argues that
Because it holds that the future is not entirely settled and that God's plans can change, the
open view is able to render the purpose and urgency of prayer intelligible in a way that
neither classical Arminianism nor classical Calvinism can.
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And in the most recent presentation of the open view, Clark Pinnock's 2001 volume, Most
Moved Mover, Pinnock writes,
In prayer the practicality of the open view of God shines. In prayer God treats us as
subjects and not objects and real dialogue takes place. . . . He treats us as partners in a
1
David Basinger, "Practical Implications," in The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge
to the Traditional Understanding of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 162.
2
Greg Boyd, God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 95.