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foreknowledge and the corresponding detriment of its denial as far as petitionary prayer is
concerned can be strengthened by a consideration of other theological problems that are raised
by the open view of petitionary prayer.
Other Theological Problems with the Open View of Petitionary Prayer
First of all, the God of open theism cannot answer some prayers for the meeting
of our own needs, or the needs of others. This is because of the foundational commitment of
God to respect and in the vast majority of cases to allow the libertarian freedom he has given to
his human image-bearers to function.
29
Thus in cases of prayers whose answers depend on free
human decisions,
30
God has limited himself as to whether and how he will answer those prayers.
For example, if I pray to God for a good job that will provide for the material needs of my
family, God can answer by appealing to a prospective employer and seeking to persuade him or
her to hire me, but he cannot render it certain that this will actually happen. Similarly, he cannot
29
Open theists understand that God reserves for himself the ability and the right to
intervene in human affairs and override libertarian freedom to guarantee that his ultimate
purposes are carried out. But out of respect for the freedom he has granted, he will do so
only very rarely. E.g., Basinger, "Practical Implications," in The Openness of God, 156.
30
Millard Erickson notes that this includes not only prayers in which we ask God to cause
another person to act in a certain way, but also prayers where this is not specifically
requested but it is, nonetheless, a necessary means to the desired end (God the Father
Almighty, 284).