Does God Change His Mind?

We are told in the Bible to pray on all things. We are also told to be anxious for nothing, but to offer prayers and petitions to God. Well I have been asked before and even asked this question myself. If and when we pray, does that or will that change God's mind?

In the beginning, the first book of the Bible, Genesis, Abraham the forefather of the Israelites, is asking that the Lord not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He pleads as we will see in the verses below to save the cities if they have any righteous in them.

23Abraham came near and said, "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24"Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?
25"Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?"
26So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account."
27And Abraham replied, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.
28"Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
29He spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose forty are found there?" And He said, "I will not do it on account of the forty."
30Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?" And He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
31And he said, "Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the twenty."
32Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the ten."
33As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

First of all, as we asked in our Wednesday prayer class when looking at the passage, why did Abraham stop at ten? Did he feel like he was pushing the Lord too much? Did he in pleading with the Lord get a revelation or sense as to what God was going to do anyway? He was pleading for Lot, that's why he didn't want the cities destroyed...Lot lived there. Well even though Abraham was a great bargainer, the Lord in the next chapter sends to angels to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy them. Abraham's prayer was still heard though in that Lot and a handful of his family was brought out of the cities before they were destroyed. Unfortunately his wife disobeyed the Lord and looked back as they were leaving and turned into a pillar of salt. That's a subject for another time, but I do want to note, don't do anything God tells you not to do.

To stay on topic, Abraham asked God to not destroy Sodom and Gemorrah, even pleaded with him, but it was God's will to do it. So it had to be done. God did know of Abraham's wish to have Lot spared and God being merciful and gracious granted him that. God did answer Abraham's prayer just not in the way Abraham had wanted or asked. Remember that...God knows what's best in the end for us and that is how he will answer all our prayers. Not for our will, but for His.

7Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8"They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'"
9The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.
10"Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation."
Moses' Entreaty 11Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12"Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.
13"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
14So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

This is the story of the golden calf and the plea from Moses to God to spare the people from God's wrath. God had planned to pour out His wrath on them and make a great nation out of Moses. After Moses' plea, verse 14 says "so the Lord changed his mind about the harm which he said he would do to his people." (NASB) The King James version says God repented and other versions say God relented. What it boils down to is God did not destroy the Israelites like He was going to and make a great nation for Moses. So does God change His mind? In the end, God's will is always carried out. God may change the means to which the end comes about but it is always according to His will since He is sovereign. His mind may change, but His will does not. For His will to change would mean God is not perfect, which is absolutely not true. God is true perfection.

My prayer for all is that we bring our troubles and thanks and prayers to God no matter how big or small they may seem. That we may open our eyes to glimpse the way of which God's hand is working in all our prayers.That we see the beauty and glory of His perfect will.

With Love and prayers always.

C.