JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Q4. Can Our Prayers Change God's Mind? - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?
No.
We must pray with in his will if we want answered paryers.
We know his will by knowing God's Word

God can change His mind about the outcome of things, because it's conditional to mankind's response or behavior. The answer will still always be within His will.

Yes, I think God can answer a prayer that is outside of the scope of His will...He can say "No!"

[QUOTE]How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

When we consistenly pray according to the Scriptures, with Faith, Fervency and Fortitude, we can and will change Yahweh's mind. Again it is His indispensable duty to act upon His word. Yahweh promises and warnings are always conditional according to our responses.

....................NO............... Absolutely NOT.....................

I cannot seem to grasp what may be outside of his will when everything exists in his plan and will. A prayer will always cause God to taken an action.

Amen

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

God cannot and will not answer a prayer that is not within His will. There are reasons for everything and though we may not know what they are, God knows and we are not to lean upon our own understanding but to trust fully and faithfully in the Lord. God has a purpose and a plan: "the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indded can be" (Romans 8:7).

God is the final authority, not human reasoning or planning. God does what he purposfully intends to do - there is never a change to God's purpose or intentions, he lives up to His promises.

In I John 5:14 John said, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." It's not when God comes to our will, but when we so pray that we come into conformity to his will. When we pray with a sincere desire in our heart, we can be assured that we will get that which we need, even when we don't know how to ask for it. We will get that which is in accordance with God's will. How do we know this? Because, first of all, the Holy Spirit causes us to pray. In both Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6 we are taught that he hath sent forth his spirit into our hearts crying "Abba Father." This is true of every true believer; every child of God. He causes us to pray is the idea, causes us to cry out to God as our Father. And then we note also that the Holy spirit leads us in our prayers. In Romans 3:26 this is verified. But let us first note verse 14 of Romans 8, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Then in verse 26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts, [verse 27] knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Therefore, it is not a change on the part of God when we pray. Rather we pray, and through the aid and help of the Spirit, who makes intercession for the saint, according to the will of God, we become conformed to the will of God. The change is in us, not in the immutable God of heaven.

God’s character, will, and purposes will never change or be altered. Yet there are variances in the means by which He will accomplish them in His creation. Whether or not we step in line with Him makes a difference to Him in how He chooses to deal with us. It's just like salvation. God desires that all would be saved, but that is conditional. He can only save those who come the way He says you must come - in repentance of sin and acceptance of Christ as Savior. The Scriptures are filled with "If...Then" promises.

I don’t believe the Lord will ever conform His answers to any prayer that is outside of His will. He might say "No"! He may have another answer. Or perhaps the Spirit will set to work to specifically change our desires to align with His and conform our request to His will. But He will not answer in a way that contradicts His immutability.

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God?

As long as we pray something that is his will it won't conflict with his Immutability.


Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

Well, yes and no. In the OT we are told God answered their request BUT sent leaness to their souls. The no answer comes in if the prayer is against his Word or character. So I guess that would end being a "No", huh?

This is not a difficult question. God planned for an interactive relationship with His children because He longs for relationship with us. His values are totally immutable, but He is not unapproachable. The most immutable value of all is love which is an interactive value. Praise His holy and glorious Name! He does hear us and rejoices when we are "talking His language".

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?


Effectual , fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, says James. It means that when we pray with all zeal and fervency, God listens and changes course. As detailed in the study, anything done within the boundaries of the will of God will prevail over his scheduled actions. God does relent, provided it is in His realm of will.

Any prayer outside the scope of His will cannot be answered by God. Because God does not alter His characteristics for the sake of man. If we pray with selfish motives or biased opinions, He will not answer them as they fall outside His will. We should know before attempting to pray, whether it stands the scrutiny of God's will. If we are sure we are within the boundary of His will, then we should attempt to pray. Otherwise it is a futile exercise.

No....if God were given to change his mind .for immutable means permanence, doesn't it? .....how would we then have a basis for knowing how to live, how to pray. How could we follow the correct path if the Leader is changing even a little? The rules are "this" way today and "that" way another day. God never changes.

How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God?
no matter what is to happen GOD already knows the outcome. yet for example if the person is to die it could be in a diffrent way. it could be painless, or quickly, or without having to be humiliated. it will be in a better way the route will be a diffrent route yet the arrival time will not be changed.

Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?
like i said if this person is ment to go to heaven they will. if not they won't. GOD will let you have hope for them though. and when you die all memory of that person no matter who they were to you will be erased from your mind. this way you won't be hurting knowing they didn't make it.so in the end what GOD does is for the person doing the praying not always for who the prayer is for. GOD has it all under control.

When God looked at the world in the days of Noah his heart repented at the state of mankind and he was moved to destroy the inhabitants except for Noah and kin.

God can change his mind, the how/who he does things can be different yet still remain in his will.
If God wills then it will be so .

So yes we must pray according to his will.We can also pray that it be his will and appeal to his character and word.

Permissible will and express will have different bounderies and love is without boundry.

If God answers prayer it will be his will anyway.

How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

God, being without sin, can decide which course of action to take if there is more then one course to choose from but both are within his will. Just as in this passage, If he had destroyed the Isrealites and chose to raise up a Nation through Moses, He would have fulfilled his promise, his will, to Abraham because Moses was a direct decendent. Instead, because Moses interceded, prayed for the Isrealites, God chose to spare them. Looking at this from a modern day, personal, perspective, I had been asking God for years to have my husband, who is a Christian but never really liked attending churches, to chose a church for us to attend together. Our boys and I attend several different churches over the years which I believe was God's will. Not until recently, however, did God have my husband begin attending a church with me that he likes and we have become members of. God could have had us become members a any church at any time. But he chose to wait until we started attending our current church home.

God answers all prayers - just not always the way we want. If we are asking for something that is "outside of the scope of his will", God's going to tell us No.

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

I like the way Pastor Ralph answered this question--that God can and will change His mind about the way He brings about His desire for His people--not change His ultimate will!
As he says, God's will can be brought about by other ways, and if we pray IN ACCORDANCE to His Will, He will hear and honor that trust.
God cannot and will not act contrary to His Will! But often He desires us to cooperate with Him in bringing that Will about. Like the trajectory that is set up for getting a space vehicle to it's intended destination is constantly being monitered and adjusted to be sure it hits its target, so God can and does alter His route to reaching His ultimate goal--and that in response to our heartfelt prayers!
SO! We can pray, knowing He will hear and answer prayers that are within His character and Will! Praise His name!

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God?
Prayer can and does change the way God does things. As long as we pray in accordance to the word the written word he has given to us in the bible he will not go against his own word. He will like with bringing them out of Egypt so many times wanted to destroy them all but because of Moses the intercession of his prayers did let them live. He did not let them enter the promise land but their generations did get to go in. God's will is to give to us the desires of our hearts. Just not the greedy and selfishness that some think of as being a desire. He listens to us and will do what is prayed according to his will in the word. So yes he can change his mind. We may wonder in the wilderness for a while because of disobedience and face some really hard trials but he will bring us through and help us to receive the things we have ask from him. Thank you Father.


Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?
God answers prayers in many ways. Some seem to think the only answer to prayer is yes I the Lord your God will do this for you. That is not true he also says to us wait and pray more it will be in my time that you will receive the answer and then there are times when we pray for something we know is not the will of the Father and yet we think he should change and give us what we ask. He would not be a good Father if he did that so he will not do it. Jesus said he went to sit at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us and I do believe that is why I am still alive today. God loves me but I have done so pretty dum things in my life that deserve death. Jesus interceded and the Father let me live. I thank him he is kind and love but we must remember he is a God of wrath also. He has opened the ground and swallowed up a lot of people because of sin. He hates sin so we need not ask him to leave it. Think of Abraham and his bleed for Sodom and it was destroyed because of the sin there. Not even 10 good men could be found but he did bring Lot out and his family.
We must remember God is God and he will not change his ways but he can be talked to by us through Jesus Christ.

Pastor Ralph, on Sep 5 2005, 05:19 PM, said:

This first question has always puzzled me and I have no answer. I'll be interested to see the opinions of others. As for the second question, my answer is a definite "No."

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

Prayer can change God's mind without changing His will. God's will was to have a people; He would accomplish that if He destroyed Israel and started over again with Moses or if He spared Israel and used them. So God's will and purpose were not changed but the way His will was accomplished was changed.

Yes He can answer prayer outside the scope of His will. He says NO.

Hi to Lorraine Wright. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God?
The Immutablitiy of God is in relation to his character, God's desire and God's purpose. God's character consist of both love and justice. There is a wide birth between these two characters in which God can work. The study of this prayer has given me great hope. Imagine the heart and prayer of one man saved a nation. Makes me want to pray harder for the nation I reside in.


Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

No, while I believe that God's scope has a wonderfully large view, He and we must stay inside of the view in order to fullfill his will.


God Bless

Lesson 2 Q 4
How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God?

Prayer can change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God by man's response. A change in man's conduct brings about a change in God's judgment. God's character, holiness, and purpose do not change but as Cole observes, "In the Bible, it is clear that God's promises and warnings are always conditional on man's response."

Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?

I believe we will learn to pray according to God's will, therefore,we will not be asking God for something that is out of the scope of His will. When we pray like this (according to His will) God is willing to change His actions to respond to our intercessions and petitions but not outside the scope if His will.