Does Prayer Change God's Mind?

HEARING FROM GOD

Does Prayer Change God’s Mind? #1

Exodus 32:9-14 7/18/04

I would like to begin a “New” series entitled, “Hearing From God”. Over the years as a minister I have witnessed some pretty “dramatic” answers to prayer. Yet "personally" I feel very Inadequate to talk about prayer. I Pray daily, and I believe I under stand what Paul meant when he said, “We should pray without ceasing”. But I still don’t consider myself to be an expert Pray…er! During the coming weeks it is my Goal that, we can learn something NEW about prayer as we study God’s Word together.

The 1st thing I want us to look at in this study is, “Does Prayer Change God’s Mind?” There is a passage in the Bible that speaks about this in Exodus 32. Turn in your Bibles, or look up on the screen.

God was really, really mad! He was so angry that He was ready to “destroy” His “chosen” people! Verses 9 &10 read like this: “The Lord said to Moses: “They are stiff-necked people,” 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.”

Who could blame Him! They deserved it! They had built a golden calf, an idol like that of their Egyptian captors. How could they mock the Holy name of God by daring to worship an idol after all He had done for them? How “ungrateful” they were! God’s “anger” Boiled!

Moses was frustrated to say the least! He didn’t want to see all the people of Israel destroyed, but - what could he do? God had spoken!

In an act of unprecented faith, Moses prayed a “risky” prayer on behalf of the Israelite people, hoping that he might change the mind of God! Listen to it in Verses 11-13, “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power & a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was 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. 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 has promised them, & it will be their inheritance forever.” (Exodus 32:11-13)

Wow…who did Moses think he was that he could change the mind of God? But the Bible reports an Amazing thing: Because of the Prayer of Moses, God Changed His mind. The next Verse says simply: “The LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” (Ex. 32:14)

The children of Israel still suffered Severe consequences for their actions! 3,000 people died for their disobedience against God! But tens of thousands escaped certain annihilation, and the children of Israel continued as a Nation because Moses prayed that God would change His mind,...And God answered!!

This is an “Amazing” event that challenges you & me to Prayer with power & substance! James tells us in Chapter 5 Vs 16, that the “prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”! Prayer is not just a mirage, prayer has "REAL" power!!

God doesn’t always change His mind just because we pray. God is Sovereign! He knows and controls the future! But the Bible says that somehow (We don’t know how) God sometimes allows our prayers to affect future events! In trying to understand these things, it’s helpful to realize that God not only knows the future, but He knows ALL the possibilities!!

28 year old Vladimir Kramnik from Russia is the greatest Chess player in the world. He recently beat a computer named “Deep Frits” that was programmed to consider all possible moves, up to more than 20 moves out. Can you fathom how many possible moves and counter moves that is? But Kramnik beat the computer! That means he was able to picture each possible response the computer would give to his move, then each possible move he might make to each of those, then each possible move the computer would make to each of those possibilities, and so on, even better than the computer could!

Kramnik was impressed at least once, however, by the computer’s genius! “I never imagined [the 27th move] and the tactics that followed,” he said. “Only a computer would find and play something like that. I was completely shocked.” Kramnik was shocked by the 27th move. That’s amazing to me, because when I play chess, I’m never able to plan past the 26th move! Truthfully, I usually can’t even picture all my opponent’s possibilities on the next move!