Does Prayer Change God’s Mind?

Many times we pray to God with the hope that he answers according to what we have asked, sometimes, it happens just as we have asked, most times, it doesn't. When our prayer is not answered according to the way we asked God, we begin to question yourself if prayer really changes God's mind.

The Bible says there are certain things God has decreed from all eternity. Those things will inevitably come to pass. If you were to pray individually or if you and I were to join forces in prayer or if all the Christians of the world were to pray collectively, it “would not change what God, in His hidden counsel, has determined to do. If we decided to pray for Jesus not to return, He still would return. You might ask, though, “Doesn’t the Bible say that if two or three agree on anything, they’ll get it?” Yes, it does, but that passage is talking about church discipline, not prayer requests. So we must take all the biblical teaching on prayer into account and not isolate one passage from the rest. 

No human being has ever had a more profound understanding of divine sovereignty than Jesus. No man ever prayed more fiercely or more effectively. Even in Gethsemane, Jesus requested an option, a different way. When the request was denied, He bowed to the Father’s will. 

So if you ask me whether prayer changes things, I answer with an unhesitating “Yes!”
The very reason we pray is because of God’s sovereignty, because we believe that God has it within His power to order things according to His purpose. That is what sovereignty is all about—ordering things according to God’s purpose. So then, does prayer change God’s mind? No. Does prayer change things? Yes, of course.