God’s knowledge of the present and future is as precise and exhaustive as his knowledge of the past. “I am God,” he says, “and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9-10). Because we pray to a God who knows the future, we pray to a God who has already set aspects of that future into motion. We pray to a God who is already moving, already acting, already directing.
Adoniram Judson once said this: “Our prayers run along one road, and God’s answers by another, and by and by they meet. God answers all true prayer, either in kind or kindness.”
According to Judson, it is like our prayers are running along one road while God’s answers are running along another, and at some point they will meet, whether just a few steps farther on or far off in the distance. And when they do at last meet, we can be confident that we will receive either what we have asked (in kind) or what God has deemed even better (in kindness). Either way, we will receive what will best accomplish God’s wonderful purposes for his people and his world.
