Does prayer change God's mind?
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| The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Of course not. I am completely unqualified to be God’s mentor or His guidance counselor. So the simple answer is that prayer does not change God’s mind. But suppose we ask the question of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our prayers in a slightly different way: “Does prayer change things?” Now the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” The Scriptures tell us that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). This text declares that prayer is effectual. It is not a pious exercise in futility. That which is futile avails nothing. Prayer, however, avails much. That which avails much is never futile.
What does prayer avail? What does it change? In the first place, my prayers change me. The purpose of prayer is not to change God. He doesn’t change because He doesn’t need changing. But I do. Just as Dr. Berkouwer’s questions to me were not for his benefit but for mine, so my time with God is for my edification, not His. Prayer is one of the great privileges given to us along with our justification. A consequence of our justification is that we have access to God. We have been adopted into His family and given the right to address Him as Father. We are encouraged to come boldly into His presence. (Of course, there is a difference between boldness and arrogance.)
But prayer also changes things. In practical terms, we say that prayer works. That which is effectual is that which causes or produces effects. In theology, we distinguish between primary and secondary causality. Primary causality is the power source of all causes. When the Bible says that “ ‘in Him we live and move and have our being’ ” (Acts 17:28), it indicates that apart from God’s sustaining providence we would be powerless to live, move, or exist. All power that we have is secondary. It always depends upon God for its ultimate efficacy. Yet, it is real. Prayer is one of the means God uses to bring about the ends He ordains. That is, God not only ordains ends, He ordains the means He uses to bring about those ends.
God doesn’t need our preaching to save His people. Yet He has chosen to work through our preaching. He empowers our human preaching with His own power. In like manner, He has chosen to work through our prayers. He empowers our prayers so that after we pray we can step back and watch Him unleash His power in and through our prayers.
We pray expectantly and confidently, not in spite of the sovereignty of God, but because of it. What would be a waste of time and breath would be praying to a god who is not sovereign.
