Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Why would God institute the practice of efficacious petitionary prayer? Why would God not simply give us what we need before we ask? This chapter examines recently proposed solutions to this puzzle and argues that they are inadequate to explain why an omniscient and perfectly good God would act differently in response to prayer. The chapter proposes that God has reasons to not always maximize a creature’s good, even in a sinless world, and that petitionary prayer functions as a means to reward those who trust God, to enable us to actively love those we cannot otherwise help, and to give the petitioner personal evidence of God’s existence and care for her, creating a virtuous cycle of increasing faith. The proposal is refined by responding to several objections involving human responsibility and the epistemology of divine action.

Comments

Originally published in Choi, Isaac, 'Is Petitionary Prayer Superfluous?', in Jonathan Kvanvig (ed.), Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion: Volume 7, Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion (Oxford, 2016; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Mar. 2016), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198757702.003.0002

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