Does Prayer Change God?

1. Does Prayer Change God?

2. Luke 11:1—It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

3. The Bible Stresses the Importance of Prayer: • Prayer is a command of God. • Paul commanded prayer: • 1 Thess. 5:17—pray without ceasing; • 1 Timothy 2:1--First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, • 1 Timothy 2:8—Therefore I want the men in every place to pray,  lifting up  holy hands, without wrath and dissension. • Jesus commanded prayer: • Luke 18:1—Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, • Matthew 6:9—“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

4. The Bible Stresses the Benefit in Prayer: • We should pray because God is concerned for our wants and needs. • Matthew 7:9-11--“If your children ask for bread, which of you would give them a stone? 10 Or if your children ask for a fish, would you give them a snake? 11 Even though you are bad, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him!

5. The Bible Stresses Our Benefit in Prayer: • We should pray because God is concerned for our wants and needs. • We are urged to pray to find grace in a time of need. • Hebrews 4:16—Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. • 1 Thess. 5:17—pray without ceasing;

6. The Bible Stresses Our Benefit in Prayer: • We should pray because God is concerned for our wants and needs. • We are urged to pray to find grace in a time of need. • We are urged to pray because God is the Almighty. • With God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) • God has the power to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20)

7. The Bible Stresses Our Benefit in Prayer: • We should pray because God is concerned for our wants and needs. • We are urged to pray to find grace in a time of need. • We are urged to pray because God is the Almighty. • We should pray because we at times we need forgiveness. • Acts 8:22-24-- “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

8. The Bible Stresses Our Benefit in Prayer: • We should pray because God is concerned for our wants and needs. • We are urged to pray to find grace in a time of need. • We are urged to pray because God is the Almighty. • We should pray because we at times we need forgiveness. • We should pray because prayer is a way that we manifest our love and adoration toward God. • We need to pray because Jesus set an example of praying. • 1 Peter 2:21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, • Mark 1:35--In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

9. The Bible Stresses Our Benefit in Prayer: • We should pray because God is concerned for our wants and needs. • We are urged to pray to find grace in a time of need. • We are urged to pray because God is the Almighty. • We should pray because we at times we need forgiveness. • We should pray because prayer is a way that we manifest our love and adoration toward God. • We need to pray because Jesus set an example of praying. • We need to pray because prayer does good.

10. Prayer Does Good: • Prayer does good because of the personal peace it provides. • Phil. 4:4-7-- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. • Prayer does good because God responds to the prayers of the righteous. • James 5:16-18—Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

11. The Bible Speaks of God as Unchanging: • Mal. 3:6—“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. • James 1:17—Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

12. The Bible Speaks of God Changing His Mind: • Hosea 11:8--How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. • NIV--My heart is changed within me; all my compassionp is aroused.q • Ref. Exodus 32:14;

13. Does God Change? • HOW THESE PASSAGES BE RECONCILED? • WHAT IMPLICATIONS DOES THESE PASSAGES HAVE ON OUR PRAYER LIFE?

14. SOME HAVE BELIEVED THAT GOD’S UNCHANGING NATURE PREVENTS MEN FROM INFLUENCING HIM. • Origen—(early church father 185-254 AD) • “First, if God foreknows what will come to be and if it must happen, then prayer is in vain. Second, if everything happens according to God’s will and if what He wills is fixed and no one of the things He wills can be changed, then prayer is in vain.” • John Calvin—(reformer 1509-1564) • Calvin emphasized the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign and unchangeable. • Therefore what prayer does is not to change God, but instead prayer can have an effect on the pray-er.

15. SOME HAVE BELIEVED THAT GOD’S UNCHANGING NATURE PREVENTS MEN FROM INFLUENCING HIM. • John Calvin—(reformer 1509-1564) • Those Influenced by Calvin: • Matthew Henry: (Presbyterian Preacher 1662-1714) “It is true, nothing we can say can have any influence upon him, or move him to show us mercy, but it may have an influence upon ourselves, and help to put us into a frame fit to receive mercy.” • Jonathan Edwards: (Calvinistic Preacher 1705-1758) “God is sometimes represented as if he were moved and persuaded by the prayers of his people; yet it is not to be thought that God is properly moved or made willing by our prayers” • The Effects of Enlightenment.

16. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE VERSES THAT APPEAR TO SAY PRAYER INFLUENCES GOD?

17. Old Testament Examples of Prayer Influencing God: • How many times would the people pray before being delivered by God’s judge? (Judges 20:23-28) • Elijah prayed before raising the dead. (1 Kings 17:20-24) • Elijah prayed before God ignited the altar at Carmel. (1 Kings 18:36-41) • Elijah prayed for rain. (1 Kings 18:45) • Elisha prayed before he raised the son of the Shunamite woman. (2 Kings 4:33-35) • Hezekiah prayed before God’s deliverance of Judah from Assyria. (2 Kings 19:15-19) • Jonah prayed from the belly of a fish. (Jonah 2) • Nehemiah prayed out of distress before God allowed him to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. (Neh. 1:4-11)

18. For Jesus, God being who He is (unchangeable and sovereign) was not a deterrent to prayer, but yet another positive reason to pray!

19. The Bible Presents God As: • Almighty: • Matthew 5:45—so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. • Matthew 6:10—‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. • Unchangeable: • Mal. 3:5-6;

20. Mal. 3:5-6—The Lord All-Powerful says, “Then I will come to you and judge you. I will be quick to testify against those who take part in evil magic, adultery, and lying under oath, those who cheat workers of their pay and who cheat widows and orphans, those who are unfair to foreigners, and those who do not respect me. 6 “I the Lord do not change. So you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

21. THESE QUALITIES OF GOD ARE NOT A DETERRANT TO JESUS PRAYING, INSTEAD THEY ARE THE VERY REASON JESUS ENCOURAGES TO PRAY, PRAY OFTEN, AND PRAY EARNESTLY!

22. Matthew 6:7-- “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

23. Matthew 6:8--“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

24. The Disciples Prayed For: • For physical healings: • Paul prayed three times that his thorn in the flesh might be removed. (2 Cor. 12:7-10) • For the health and well being of Peter imprisoned: • Acts 12:5-- So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. • For their work in the Lord: • The church at Antioch fasted and prayed before sending Barnabas and Saul on the 1st journey. (Acts 13:1-3) • Paul encouraged the brethren at Rome to pray for him. (Romans 15:30) • Paul instructed the church at Colossae to pray for doors of opportunity to be opened. (Col. 4:3) • Epaphras prayed for the spiritual well being of the Colossians. (Col. 4:12) • Etc. • Paul prayed for many, many local churches: • 2 Cor. 11:28—Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.

25. Matthew 7:7— “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.Matthew 21:22— “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

26. James 5:15-16— 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

27. 1 Peter 3:12— 12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

28. GOD’S UNCHANGING NATURE ACTUALLY CAUSES HIM TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE PRAYERS OF HIS PEOPLE.

29. Two Views of God: • God is aloof as an aloof monarch, removed from the details of the world, unchangeable, an Almighty irresistible power. • God is a caring parent with qualities of love, generosity, and sensitivity, an infinite Being who listens carefully to our requests and responds personally to such requests in accordance with His divine wisdom.

30. 2 Kings 20:1-6—At that time Hezekiah became so sick he almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, “This is what the Lord says: Make arrangements because you are not going to live, but die.” 2 Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Lord, please remember that I have always obeyed you. I have given myself completely to you and have done what you said was right.” Then Hezekiah cried loudly. 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke his word to Isaiah: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, so I will heal you. Three days from now you will go up to the Temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria; I will protect the city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’ ”

31. WHY WOULD GOD CHOOSE TO BE INFLUENCED BY HUMANS?

32. Why Would God Listen to Me? • God is all seeing and knowing: • Psalm 139:1-6-- For the choir director. A Psalm of David. O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

33. Why Would God Listen to Me? • God is all present: • Psalm 139:7-12-- Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

34. Why Would God Listen to Me? • God’s creative power: • Psalms 139:13-18--For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

35. Why Would God Listen to Me? • God does not choose to listen to man because God needs information: • Matthew 6:8--“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. • God does not choose to listen to man because He is incapable of accomplishing everything that He might like to without us. • Esther 4:14—If you keep quiet at this time, someone else will help and save the Jewish people, but you and your father’s family will all die. And who knows, you may have been chosen queen for just such a time as this.”

36. Why Would God Listen to Me? • God wants us to be a partner with Him in His plans and purposes. • Genesis 1:26--Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” • God wants us to manifest the same selfless love toward others (as He has toward us). • 1 John 4:16-- We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. • God wants us to see our ultimate need of Him. • Matthew 7:7-11--Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! • God wants us to see His power/purposes at work. • Eph. 3:20-- Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

37. Prayer Changes God! Those extra 30 minutes a day are the most life changing 30 minutes that we can engage in!