Ignition 7 Video Spark DevosSample

Can We Change God’s Mind?

The questions about how we interact with God through prayer come pre-loaded with a lot of mystery. Mystery surrounding God’s nature. Mysteries surrounding our free will and how we connect with God. We know that God’s will is sovereign and perfect. We also know that we are called to choose constant relationship with him.

But there is still a tension between what we want and what God wills. Should we ask God to change his mind when it seems like he’s made a decision for our lives? What about when situations seem rough and we need help?

First of all, scripture is very clear that we should constantly pray to God in every situation. All through the Bible we see how prayer— talking to God—guides, grows, and challenges people to change. We are called to pray and ask him about our needs. Praise him for the good things in our lives. Request wisdom.

So can we ask God to change his mind as well? James 5:16 NLT says, “… the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” Is there any Biblical evidence that prayer has changed God’s actions in the lives of his faithful followers?

In Genesis 18, there’s a story about Abraham talking to God. Abraham had a strong relationship and open lines of communication with God. God had decided to destroy two cities filled to the brim with evil: Sodom and Gomorrah, but Abraham tried to convince him to save the cities because his nephew Lot lived there. Beginning with fifty and going all the way down to just ten, Abraham talked God into sparing the cities for the sake of that many people living there. Turned out, there weren’t even ten good people in the cities. Yet God honored Abraham’s request and saved Lot’s family. Abraham’s prayers appeared to influence God’s action.

There are many examples of prayer affecting how God interacted with humanity throughout the Bible. God desires interaction with us too. He wants us to listen to his words and he loves to listen to us in return. There’s still mystery surrounding how God’s will works in the world, but we know that the conversations we have with him are also very important. So whether or not we ever fully understand God’s will, we should keep praying. Keep asking. Keep communing with our Creator.