Ask the Pastor - Prayer: Does it Change God's Will?
QUESTION: ““Can my prayers change God’s plan for history?”
ANSWER: First, let me ask this question: Would you really want your prayers to be able to alter the complex course of human history? Wouldn’t that be far worse than letting a two-year old toddler drive your car on I-95? What an audacious request for me to make – to be able to have God direct the affairs of my life and every other life connected to mine according to my extremely limited and skewed perspective! It reminds me of a prominent television evangelist who many years ago claimed that it was his prayers that diverted a hurricane that was bearing down upon his ministry headquarters. If his prayers were the ultimate factor in determining the path of that storm, then what about the prayers of those people whose homes and towns were destroyed farther up the coast?
We need to be content to trust in the sovereign, wise plan for every detail of history that has been conceived in the throne room of heaven, from the Lord’s vantage point. It is even easier to trust in that complex plan that weaves the lives of all people into a tapestry when we remind ourselves that there is a driving purpose to His plan - that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
I know this only begs another important question – if our prayers don’t change the events of our lives, then why should we pray? “Because God commands it” is one answer, but it isn’t a very satisfying one. God wouldn’t command us to do something with no purpose.
Another answer sometimes given is that, even though prayer doesn’t change things, it does change us. And that is very true, and very important to understand. Prayer is, by necessity, an act of faith and trust. Prayer isn’t a method to obtain what you want; it is communication upon which a personal relationship with the Lord is based. It is an acknowledgment that you depend upon the Lord completely, and that you trust in Him to guide, protect, and provide in your life. If there is no prayer in your life, then you are living in the flesh, trusting in yourself and your own resources. Prayer trains you to be humble and to rely upon the Lord.
But there’s still something unsatisfying about that answer. It helps to understand that prayer is helpful because it changes us, trains us to live by faith. But if that’s all prayer is, isn’t that a lot like the boot-camp sergeant who makes the recruits dig a deep hole, only to tell them to fill it in again when they’re finished? Yes, it builds character, but it has no purpose to the rest of the world, no benefit to anyone else.
Is that the case with prayer? I think not. Here we have to take a peek into the mysterious things that lie beyond the puny intellectual abilities of sinners like you and me. We can’t comprehend how it is true, but the Bible declares that, in some way, God is able to incorporate our freely determined choices and actions into His perfect plans.
That’s why God is able to incorporate into His plan even the sinful actions of men, while not being the cause of their sin. For example, in Acts 2, Peter describes the crucifixion of Christ in this way: “This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” God planned every detail of Christ’s crucifixion, and that plan included the sinful actions of the Jewish leaders. And yet these sinners were fully responsible and accountable for their sins. We cannot comprehend it, but we accept it to be true.
In a similar way, God’s sovereign plan also includes our prayers. One of my favorite quotes on prayer comes from one of my professors in seminary – he said, “God never sets about to do anything in this world without first moving His people to pray for it.” God doesn’t need my prayers to accomplish His will, but He honors me with the privilege of participating in the process. I know it doesn’t answer all the questions, but it is important to recognize that God’s work is almost always preceded by the prayers of His people. That gives me a sense of urgency in regard to my prayer life – He will use my prayers as an integral, even necessary component of His plan for the world. It also shows the foolishness of expecting to see God’s work in my life or in the lives of others if I’m not praying for it to happen!