Hi Rick, interesting way of putting it "rigged," as in everything is predetermined beforehand. But you are right, it has to be this way for God to be sovereign. But it's not as simple as that sounds, because we do not know the future, therefore we cannot know for certain what is yet to transpire and so we hope/pray for certain things. But we hope for things, not because we have self determination, but because He made us to be thinking creatures and God wants us to know and understand Him better. So He is working in our heart and minds through things that happen to learn how to desire His will in everything, actually to trust Him in everything that happens.
Here are a few excerpts on this.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php?topic=94.0 -----------
Dear Scott:
Don't assume, Scott, that since God is sovereign, that we have nothing to do with anything. We have a lot to do with our own lives. We are the ones who MUST LIVE OUT our lives. No one else will do it for us. But in that living out, we just need to undersand that our wills are not free to go against God's predetermined plan.
http://bible-truths.com/lake15-D.html -----------------------
EVERYTHING HAS A PRECISE APPOINTED TIME
God Almighty is responsible for everything and He brings about everything only at its precise "APPOINTED SEASON AND TIME." Let's read it:
"To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecc. 3:1).
The implications of this verse are staggering. The very foundation of human psychology and theology crumbles under the weight of this declaration of God’s Word. This is undoubtedly one of the ten most profound Scriptures in the entire Bible.
If we are to be honest and believe this verse, then we must concede that absolutely NOTHING is left out God’s profound declaration except man’s anti-scriptural theory of "free will."
The word "season" in the KJV is translated from the Hebrew word, z[e]man, and is defined in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary as: "APPOINTED season, occasion, time." And "purpose" is defined as: "pleasure, desire, matter." Sometimes rendered as "purpose" or "event."
Here’s a second witness to this grand declaration:
"Because to every purpose [matter or event] there is time and judgment..." (Ecc. 8:6).
And a third witness:
"…for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work" (Ecc. 3:17).
Here are a couple translations that make this verse a little clearer:
"...for He has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work..." (The New Revised Standard Version).
"For He has set a season for every event and for every deed..." (The Concordant Literal Old Testament).
There is no wasted motion in God's creation, purpose and plan. Everything has an appointed time, and everything includes: "every purpose, every work, every matter, every event, and every deed." Where pray tell does "free will" fit into all this? It doesn’t. It clearly DOESN’T. Man has no free will. There is no such thing as free will. It is but the phantom of an "obscured heart" as we learned in Part C from Ecc. 3:11.
Again we ask, since "EVERY work, purpose, matter, deed and event" under heaven must happen at an "APPOINTED TIME," how can there be such a thing as human, uncaused, "free-will?"
Is any man free to do anything other than what God HAS "appointed time" for? No.
Is any man free to do anything that God HAS NOT assigned an "appointed time" for? No.
Is any man free to do or not to do anything that God HAS or HAS NOT assigned an "appointed time" for? No.
Then how can man have a free will?
Man’s will is predicated on previous circumstances and causes, all of which originate in God’s preordained plan and purpose.
Christendom and her fabled doctrine of "free moral agency" is trapped and completely book-ended between:
[1] "To every thing there is a season [appointed time],and a time to every purpose [matter or event] under the heaven" (Ecc. 3:1).
AND:
[2] "I know that, whatsoever God does...NOTHING can be put to it, nor ANYTHING taken from it: and GOD does it" (Ecc. 3:14).
Someone might see a contradiction in God’s teaching. If the two above Scriptures are true, then why does God warn against "adding to or taking away from His word?" Well, like everything else that is beyond the realm of carnal comprehension, all of these things too, have been foreordained and pre-determined to happen only at their "APPOINTED TIME." God has appointed a time for false prophets to add and God has appointed a time for false prophets to take away from His word.
http://bible-truths.com/emails.html#whypray -----------------
I get asked this question quite often. Actually the fact that God is in control of EVERYTHING is a very good reason itself to pray. We are totally reliant upon God for EVERYTHING! Think about it. If there were a human being that you had to rely upon for EVERYTHING, would you not stay VERY CLOSE to that person and ALWAYS be in CONSTANT contact with them? Of course you would.
I KNOW that I have had prayers ANSWERED, ONLY BECAUSE I ASKED! But you might say, "How can that be if God predetermined to do it ANYWAY?" But you see, He did not predetermine to do it "ANYWAY." That is OUR ASSUMPTION that is not true. Listen: God predetermined to do something for us only AFTER we asked for it!! And yes, it is true, that God predetermined that we WOULD ASK FOR IT, as well. We just can't out-think, or out-guess, or out-smart God no matter how hard we try.
Let me give you another piece of wisdom. We are told that we are to "Work out our OWN salvation" in the Scriptures. How can we work out our own salvation if God has already determined that we will be saved and He is going to SAVE ALL? Same answer as your question to prayer: "Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling [WHY? Next verse]...For [or because] it is GOD which works in you BOTH TO WILL AND TO DO of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12-13).
It is inspired of God that we pray and that we work. Just because it is God doing it, does not negate the fact that it will be done in us and through us. In time of real and desperate need, we will be brought to our knees before God whether it seems logical in the face of God's total sovereignty or not!
http://bible-truths.com/emails.html#whypray --------------------
I constantly receive emails from people who think there are obvious and blatant contradictions between the way we live and absolute laws of God.
The answer is contained in your own question. I realize that this takes a little thought. I have personally thought about all the possible implications of God's Sovereignty and our lack of free will, for thousands and thousands of hours.
Your question is a logical one. If God is going to do exactly what He has predetermined to do, in every and all situations, then our prayers will CHANGE NOTHING! Right? WRONG!
But HOW CAN THAT BE? That's a contradiction of logic, isn't it? No, it is not. Here is the answer: God not only brings about the result which He always has in mind for every situation in life, and in every situation in the history of the world, but He ALSO BRINGS ABOUT THE MEANS BY WHICH THAT RESULT IS ACCOMPLISHED!
Therefore, nothing is accomplished AT ALL, unless God brings about the MEANS of accomplishing it.
Example: When Paul was sailing on a ship to Rome, they ran into a terrible storm. It appeared that all would be lost. An angel appeared in the night to Paul and told him that not one hair of anyone's head would be harmed, but that all had to STAY ON THE SHIP! Some attempted to depart from the ship. Paul told them that if ever they should not stay on the ship, they would DIE! Now then, how could they possibly "die" when an angel of the Lord told Paul that NO ONE WOULD DIE? A contradiction? Absolutely not.
Since God had already committed Himself to SAVING EVERYONE, He also made sure that the instructions needed to accomplish that WERE FOLLOWED PRECISELY! And so those men CAME BACK ON THE SHIP, and they were ALL SAVED JUST AS THE ANGEL TOLD PAUL!
But isn't prayer effective only if it CHANGES GOD'S MIND to do something for you that He wouldn't have done for you had you NOT prayed? Again, absolutely not. God is not a man that He should "change His mind" about anything, ever! Now, learn something about prayer that virtually no one in all Christendom believes or understands. First, let's look at Romans 8:26.
From the King James:
"Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
This marvelous Scripture, however, does not bring out the whole truth contained in the Greek manuscripts regarding this verse, in the King James Version. Here is a better translation.
From the Concordant Literal New Testament:
"Now, similarly, the spirit also is aiding our infirmity, for what we should be praying for, to accord with WHAT MUST BE, we are not aware, but the spirit itself is pleading for us with inarticulate groanings."
"With WHAT MUST BE..." There is the answer! And here is the perfect application of this verse in the real world:
"And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed saying, O My Father, IF it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: [but that was NOT POSSIBLE! God had already PREDETERMINED that Jesus SHOULD drink this cup, and therefore, IMMEDIATELY recanted to the prodding of the Holy Spirit and said the following...]: nevertheless not as I will, BUT AS THOU WILL ['to accord with WHAT MUST BE']."
Then Jesus prayed again, WITHOUT asking God to take the cup from Him:
"He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if this cup may NOT pass away from Me, except I drink it, THY WILL BE DONE" (Matt. 26:39 & 42).
Clearly Jesus was CAUSED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT to pray "in accord with WHAT MUST BE."
And the same thing that goes for prayer goes for EVERYTHING in our lives. It will always be according to God's preordained intention. That is not to say that things do not got AGAINST HIS WILL, they often do. But... BUT, it is also often God's intention that we DO GO AGAINST HIS STATED WILL. Many times it is God INTENTION that humanity goes AGAINST HIS WILL. In Romans 9:19 were it says, "For who has resisted His WILL?" it should be translated: "For who has resisted His INTENTION." This is a different Greek word from what is normally translated "will."
People also often ask why I do what I do on our web site in teaching people the Truths of God, if God is going to save everyone anyway. Again, the answer is simple: This is HOW God brings about the salvation of many people. By teaching and preaching. He doesn't have to do it this way, but He has CHOSEN to do it this way. Hence we read:
"For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God BY THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING to save them that believe" (I Cor. 1:21).
And, of course, we know that it is again, God Himself, Who gives us the faith to believe in the first place (Eph. 2:08).
Hope this helps your understanding a little better.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php?topic=3622.0 --------
Yes, you have basically stated the facts correctly, however
your conclusion is erroneous.
You agree to believe that God does control all things in
the Universe, but then suggest, therefore GOD DOESN'T
NEED TO CONTROL ANYTHING! How do you
suppose it is that God DOES all the things He does? He
causes things to happen by the circumstances of His creation.
I HAD to write my papers, even though from my perspective,
it was I who volunteered to do so. And my paper has already
had a profound effect on thousands of people's thinking with
regards to Dr. Kennedy's evil and unscriptural sermons.
You can't decide to stay in bed and stop living unless it has
already been predetermined before the foundation of the world
that this is the course you MUST TAKE. We ARE the actors
on God's stage of life, and we WILL perform as God directs.
God be with you,
Ray