Okay Blogsters,
I have some of my own thoughts and beliefs on this matter and I'd like to ask for YOUR thoughts and beliefs on this question:
Can we change God's mind?
Can God change His mind? (Is that the same question?)
In answering this question please notate scripture. Furthermore, in explaining your answer, please include how prayer, specifically intersessory prayer applies to your explaination. You may reference theologians and go as deep as you'd like.....BRING IT ON!
(Yes, I had asked this same question back in 2003 on the old blog)
2 comments:
Hi Kei,
Well, I'd love 2 give u Bible quotes here but m at work n don't hav my Bible w/ me...
But I really do think we CAN change God's mind... example is in the story of Abraham interceding for Sodom & Gomorrah... even though in the end the city was still destroyed, but it proves that we can actually "bargain" w/ God in intercessory prayer.
Another example is when God was about to destroy Niniveh, but since they repented & turned from their wicked ways, God forgave & spared them...
So... what do u think? Email me ya :)
Can we change God’s mind? The answer is an absolute, positive, definitive maybe!
We see in the stories of Noah and the flood; Israel’s turning away (often) from God while traversing the desert; Jonah and Nineveh; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and elsewhere that God did change His mind (Okay the cities of S&G were still distroyed but some people were rescued because God listened to Abraham).
These are some scriptures that demonstrate where God did change His mind:
Genesis 6:5-7
5Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. 6So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. 7And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them." 8But Noah found favor with the LORD. (NIV)
Exodus 32:9-14
9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."
11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD ," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' " 14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Numbers 25:10,11
10Then the LORD said to Moses, 11"Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by displaying passionate zeal among them on my behalf. So I have stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my anger. (NIV)
Ezekiel 4:12-15
12Each day prepare your bread as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel and then eat the bread. 13For this is what the LORD says: Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands, where I will banish them!"
14Then I said, "O Sovereign LORD, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or that I found dead. And I have never eaten any of the animals that our laws forbid."
15"All right," the LORD said. "You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung." (NIV)
Ezekiel 20:19-22
19`I am the LORD your God,' I told them. `Follow my laws, pay attention to my instructions, 20and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.'
21"But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my laws and follow my instructions, even though obeying them would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness. 22Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt. (NIV)
1Thessalonians 5:9
9For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. (NIV)
We also see in scripture where God does not change His mind:
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie.
He is not a human, that he should change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through? (NIV)
Ephesians 1:11
Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. (NIV)
Hebrews 6:17,18
17God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence. (NIV)
Hebrews 7:20-22
20God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, but he never did this for any other priest. 21Only to Jesus did he say,
"The Lord has taken an oath
and will not break his vow:
`You are a priest forever.' "
22Because of God's oath, it is Jesus who guarantees the effectiveness of this better covenant. (NIV)
So, what does this all mean?
God cannot and will not change His nature, His oaths, or His promises. He will not change what is absolute truth.
Now, understand that God does hear our prayers. When prayers are within the scope of all that has been described He will respond. For, it is because of His very nature God is loving, gracious, merciful, compassionate, unfailing, and forgiving.
He hears the prayers of a righteous person; of a repentant heart; and of those He loves and has compassion for:
2 Kings 13:4
Then Jehoahaz sought the LORD's favor, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. (NIV)
2 Kings 19:20
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD , the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. (NIV)
2 Kings 20:5 (Isaiah 38:5)
"Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. (NIV)
Psalm 6:9
The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer. (NIV)
Psalm 116:1
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy. (NIV)
Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked
but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (NIV)
Ezekiel 36:37
"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep,… (NIV)
Daniel 10:12
Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. (NIV)
Zechariah 1:8-16
8In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were red, brown, and white horses, each with its own rider. 9I asked the angel who was talking with me, "My lord, what are all those horses for?"
"I will show you," the angel replied.
10So the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD has sent out to patrol the earth."
11Then the other riders reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have patrolled the earth, and the whole earth is at peace."
12Upon hearing this, the angel of the LORD prayed this prayer: "O LORD Almighty, for seventy years now you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. How long will it be until you again show mercy to them?" 13And the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
14Then the angel said to me, "Shout this message for all to hear: `This is what the LORD Almighty says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. 15But I am very angry with the other nations that enjoy peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations punished them far beyond my intentions.
16" `Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the LORD Almighty, and plans will be made for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.' (NLT)
Luke 1:13
But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. (NIV)
Acts 10:30,31
30Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
God has emotions and He enjoys showing us His love for us, by answering our prayers, responding to our needs and requests (the answer maybe yes, no, or grow {not right now}). He also will not break His promises; His word is SOLID...SOLID ROCK!
Ah, God Rocks!
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