Why Pray if God’s will won’t change?

© 2015 by Tom Boynton (editing by Kathy Boynton)

You may have heard the statement “prayer changes things.” This cliché is often repeated to encourage people to pray. After all, if prayer changes things, then why not use prayer to get more of the things we want in life?

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t pray. God commands us to pray.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

There is also solid Scriptural evidence that collective prayer was important in the early church.

“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

The early Christians gathered together to pray for the Apostle Peter when he had been imprisoned by Herod (Acts 12:12).

So, what’s the problem? The potential problem is that it’s easy to slip into the mindset of trying to talk God into something He hadn’t planned. When we recruit others to pray with us, we can be tempted to think that, if we gang up on God, He is more likely to do what we want. God becomes our pawn.

Scripture, however, is clear that God will absolutely accomplish everything He has purposed and His purposes never change.

“For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27).

In fact, God tells us that if we pray selfishly, we shouldn’t expect to receive that for which we ask.

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3).

So why pray? It’s God’s way of changing us to embrace His will, rather than our own. The model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples makes this clear. In it he teaches them to want what He wants.

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1)

We are told to pray in the name of Jesus. This means much more than just appending His holy name to our prayer. It means that our prayer should properly represent His desires. We don’t do this because God needs information. Rather, prayer is God’s way of teaching our hearts to know Him and grow in love and obedience to Him.

Do you love Him?

 

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