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Theology
by steve johnson
Prayer Changes Things Is it true, prayer changes things? That depends on what “things” we are talking about. We could get into a raging theological debate, and many do, about whether prayer changes God’s mind, will, or plans. On the one hand the Lord says in Malachi 3:6 “I am the LORD, and I do not change,” and James, speaking of God our Father, wrote “He never changes…” (1:17). On the other hand, we have passages like Exodus 32:14, “So the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people” and Jonah 3:10, “When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.”
In view of these seeming contradictions some people argue that when we see God changing His mind, we are seeing it from a human perspective. They reason that since God knows all things from all eternity, He has always known the ultimate plan that He would carry out—even the plan to "change His mind." In Jonah's account of Nineveh, the people repented and God relented from the destruction that was to come upon the inhabitants. Of course, they say, God knew this would happen and instituted the warning to them in order to bring about their repentance. Others say these verses refer to the character and nature of God, not His actions and plans. God’s actions and dealings with humanity may vary or change because He is not static but is active.
