Prayer To Know God

Can We Change God’s Mind with Prayer? A Bible Study

The Bible instructs us to pray. In fact, in the New Testament we are told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The Christian life is a life that is to be lived in constant communication with God.

We read that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful (James 5:16).

Nevertheless, the question is often asked, “Do my prayers really change God’s mind?” Let us look at this question and try to answer it from the Bible.

God is omniscient

The Bible indicates that God is omniscient. Omniscient means ‘all-knowing’. God knows everything; what was, what is, and what will be. Because of this, we know that God already knows what we need, and even what we are going to pray about.

Therefore, we can conclude that our prayers do not surprise God. It cannot be said that God intended to do thus and such but, as a result of our prayers, He decides to do something different.

[A discussion of God’s foreknowledge, election, and predestination are beyond the scope of this article]

However, God does respond to our prayers. Our interaction with Him affects His actions. He has told us, in His Word, how He will react to certain actions and attitudes of ours; and our prayers reveal what our attitudes are.

And, just as an earthly father wants the best for his children who come to him in dependence, so God relates to His children who come to Him dependently.

The ‘real’ question

Many times, the real question behind the question, “Can we change God’s mind with prayer?” is “Do I, and my prayers, matter to God?” We want to know if God cares about us enough to pay attention to our prayers. Jesus asserts that God loves His children even more than earthly fathers love their children (Matthew 7:10-11). God loves us more than the most loving human father ever has or ever will.

God gives us some conditions that must be met in order for us to be in the right condition to have our prayers answered:

• our prayers must be grounded in faith in God (Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24);
• we must ask in Jesus’ name (John 16:24);
• we must ask with the right motives (James 4:3);
• we must be persistent in our dependence on God (Matthew 7:8; Luke 1:10);
• we must keep His commandments and obey Him (I John 3:22); and
• our prayers must be in accordance with His will (I John 5:14).

This may seem a lot of things to do and remember in order for God to answer our prayers, but they are all wrapped up in the one commandment Jesus said is above all others, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37 ESV; cf. Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). When this is the condition of our heart, all the conditions for answered prayer are met.

When we are truly submitted to Jesus, and His Lordship, our relationship with Him will be such that He hears and answers our prayers as a loving father would answer the requests of his children, whom he loves dearly. David Platt, in his book Follow Me, compares the believer’s submission with the submission of earthly children to their earthly father,

“If my kids were to say me, ‘Dad, this week, we will do whatever you think is best for us,’ how do you think I would respond? Would I make their week miserable? Certainly not. I would honor their trust in me by leading them toward whatever is best for them.

Now I’m not perfect, and I don’t know what’s best for my children 100 percent of the time. But God does. He is a perfect Father, and he makes no mistakes. He desires our good more than we do.

So shouldn’t we gladly surrender our will to his? This is what it means to be a disciple” ( p. 130).

Whose mind is changed?

Most often, it is we who are changed when we come to God in prayer.

Often, when we come to God to ask Him for something, we have already decided what it is that we need. Too often, we pray to God to get Him to see things our way and to join the plan that we have envisioned.

However, quite often, God uses these times to teach us that He knows what is best for us. He will gently change our minds to see things His way, so that we end up participating in His plan.

Most often, it is we who are changed when we come to God in prayer.

The Prayer of Repentance

However, there is a special prayer that completely changes one’s relationship with God.

The Bible tells us clearly that, when anyone prays the prayer of repentance and becomes a follower of Jesus, God relates to that person in a very different way than He did while they were unrepentant sinners in rebellion to Him.

Nevertheless, this does not indicate that God changed His mind; rather, He simply responded just as He promised He would when anyone confesses and repents of their sin and turns to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Have you confessed your sins and repented of them? It will be the most important prayer you’ve ever prayed.

Conclusion

Since God is omniscient (all-knowing) it cannot be said that, from His point of view, He ever ‘changes His mind’. Nevertheless, we are not omniscient, we know that God loves us, and we are instructed to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

In this way, we are always communicating with God and, as long as we are living as He wants us to, we can be confident that He hears our prayers and acts on them. The most important aspect of our prayer lives is to make sure that, in everything, we are living for Him and His glory.

So, does God change His mind? No…but He does respond to our prayers as a loving father responds to his children’s needs and requests…only better.

10 Awesome Bible Verses About the Power of Prayer

Resources – The Holy Bible, English Standard Version “Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” Platt, David. Follow Me. Tyndale, 2013. video “On My Knees” by Jaci Velasquez.

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Источник: //www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/can-we-change-gods-mind-with-prayer-a-bible-study/

How to Know God Personally – Four Spiritual Principles

Printable Version

What does it take to begin a relationship with God? Devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you?

You may be surprised that none of those things will work. But God has made it very clear in the Bible how we can know Him.

The following principles will explain how you can personally begin a relationship with God, right now, through Jesus Christ…

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life

God’s Love
“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” 1

God’s Plan
[Christ speaking] “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” [that it might be full and meaningful]. 2

All of us sin and our sin has separated us from God

We Are Sinful
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 3

We were created to have fellowship with God; but, because of our stubborn self-will, we chose to go our own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

We Are Separated
“The wages of sin is death” [spiritual separation from God]. 4

This diagram illustrates that God is holy and people are sinful. A great gulf separates us. The arrows illustrate that we are continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through our own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion — but we inevitably fail.

Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our sin. Through Him we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our life

He Died in Our Place
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 5

He Rose From the Dead
“Christ died for our sins…He was buried…He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures…He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…” 6

He Is the Only Way to God
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.'” 7

This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives

We Must Receive Christ
“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” 8

We Receive Christ Through Faith
“By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” 9

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth

We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
[Christ speaking] “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.” 10

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be.

Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience.

You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

These two circles represent two kinds of lives:

Which circle best describes your life?

Which circle would you to have represent your life?

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer

Prayer is talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, then you can pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?

If yes, pray now and according to his promise, Jesus Christ will come into your life.

Fill out our form and we will send you helpful links and/or connect you with an email mentor. We want to help you grow in your faith in God.

by Dr. Bill Bright
Used with permission

Foot Notes:  (1) John 3:16 (NIV); (2) John 10:10; (3) Romans 3:23; (4) Romans 6:23; (5) Romans 5:8; (6) 1 Corinthians 15:3-6; (7) John 14:6; (8) John 1:12; (9) Ephesians 2:8,9; (10) Revelation 3:20 Adapted from Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws and Would You to Know God Personally, by Dr. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. © Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved Copyrighted 1965, 1968 by Campus Crusade for Christ, New Life Publications. All rights reserved. Permission for use from the publisher, New Life Publications, P.O. Box 593684, Orlando, FL 32859

Источник: //thoughts-about-god.com/four-laws

Prayer: Do You Want to Know God?

According to Gallup polls, more Americans will pray this week than will exercise, drive a car, have sex, or go to work. Nine in ten of us pray regularly, and three four claim to pray every day.

To get some idea of the interest in prayer, type “prayer” or “pray” in an Internet search engine Google and see how many millions of links pop up. Yet behind those impressive numbers lies a conundrum.

When I started exploring the subject of Christian prayer, I first went to libraries and read accounts of some of the great pray-ers in history. George Müller began each day with several hours of prayer, imploring God to meet the practical needs of his orphanage.

Bishop Lancelot Andrewes allotted five hours per day to prayer and Charles Simeon rose at 4:00 a.m. to begin his four-hour regimen. Nuns in an order known as “The Sleepless Ones” still pray in shifts through every hour of the day and night.

Susannah Wesley, a busy mother with no privacy, would sit in a rocking chair with an apron over her head praying for John and Charles and the rest of her brood.

Martin Luther, who devoted two to three hours daily to prayer, said we should do it as naturally as a shoemaker makes a shoe and a tailor makes a coat. Jonathan Edwards wrote of the “sweet hours” on the banks of the Hudson River, “rapt and swallowed up in God.”

Is prayer important to you? Oh, yes.

How often do you pray? Every day.

Approximately how long? Five minutes – well, maybe seven.

Do you find prayer satisfying? Not really.

Do you sense the presence of God when you pray? Occasionally, not often.

Many of those I talked to experienced prayer more as a burden than as a pleasure. They regarded it as important, even paramount, and felt guilty about their failure, blaming themselves.

A Modern Struggle

When I listened to public prayers in evangelical churches, I heard people telling God what to do, combined with thinly veiled hints on how others should behave. When I listened to prayers in more liberal churches, I heard calls to action, as if prayer were something to get past so we can do the real work of God’s kingdom.

Hans Küng’s theological tome On Being A Christian, 702 pages long, did not include a chapter or even an index entry on prayer. When asked later, Küng said he regretted the oversight. He was feeling so harassed by Vatican censors and by his publisher’s deadlines that he simply forgot about prayer.

Why does prayer rank so high on surveys of theoretical importance and so low on surveys of actual satisfaction? What accounts for the disparity between Luther and Simeon on their knees for several hours and the modern prayer fidgeting in a chair after ten minutes?

Everywhere, I encountered the gap between prayer in theory and prayer in practice. In theory prayer is the essential human act, a priceless point of contact with the God of the universe.

In practice prayer is often confusing and fraught with frustration. My publisher conducted a website poll, and of the 678 respondents only 23 felt satisfied with the time they were spending in prayer.

That very discrepancy made me want to write this book.

Advances in science and technology no doubt contribute to our confusion about prayer. In former days farmers lifted their heads and appealed to brazen heavens for an end to drought.

Now we study low-pressure fronts, dig irrigation canals, and seed clouds with metallic particles.

In much of the world, modern skepticism taints prayer. We breathe in an atmosphere of doubt.

Why does God let history lurch on without intervening? What good will prayer do against a nuclear threat, against terrorism and hurricanes and global climate change?

To some people prayer seems, as George Buttrick put it, “a spasm of words lost in a cosmic indifference” – and he wrote those words in 1942.

Prosperity may dilute prayer too. In my travels I have noticed that Christians in developing countries spend less time pondering the effectiveness of prayer and more time actually praying. The wealthy rely on talent and resources to solve immediate problems, and insurance policies and retirement plans to secure the future.

We can hardly pray with sincerity, “Give us this day our daily bread” when the pantry is stocked with a month’s supply of provisions.

Increasingly, time pressures crowd out the leisurely pace that prayer seems to require. Communication with other people keeps getting shorter and more cryptic: text messages, email, instant messaging.

We have less and less time for conversation, let alone contemplation. We have the constant sensation of not enough: not enough time, not enough rest, not enough exercise, not enough leisure.

Where does God fit into a life that already seems behind schedule?

Praying to an invisible God does not bring forth the same feedback you would get from a counselor or from friends who at least nod their heads in sympathy.

Is anyone really listening? As Ernestine, the nasal-voiced telephone operator played by comedienne Lily Tomlin, used to ask, “Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?”

Prayer is to the skeptic a delusion, a waste of time. To the believer it represents perhaps the most important use of time. As a Christian, I believe the latter. Why, then, is prayer so problematic?

The British pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones summed up the confusion: “Of all the activities in which the Christian engages, and which are part of the Christian life, there is surely none which causes so much perplexity, and raises so many problems, as the activity which we call prayer.”

Pilgrim Quest

I write about prayer as a pilgrim, not an expert. I have the same questions that occur to almost everyone at some point.

Is God listening? Why should God care about me? If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer? Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent, even capricious? Does a person with many praying friends stand a better chance of physical healing than one who also has cancer but with only a few people praying for her? Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes far away? Does prayer change God or change me?

Before beginning this book I mostly avoided the topic of prayer  guilt and a sense of inferiority. I’m embarrassed to admit that I do not keep a journal, do not see a spiritual director, and do not belong to a regular prayer group.

In short, my main qualification for writing about prayer is that I feel unqualified – and genuinely want to learn.

More than anything else in life, I want to know God.

The psychiatrist Gerald C. May observed, “After twenty years of listening to the yearnings of people’s hearts, I am convinced that human beings have an inborn desire for God.

Whether we are consciously religious or not, this desire is our deepest longing and most precious treasure.

” Surely, if we are made in God’s own image, God will find a way to fulfill that deepest longing. Prayer is that way.

I have not attempted a guide book that details techniques such as fasting, prayer retreats, and spiritual direction.

I investigate the topic of prayer as a pilgrim, strolling about, staring at the monuments, asking questions, mulling things over, testing the waters.

I admit to an imbalance, an overreaction to time spent among Christians who promised too much and pondered too little, and as a result I try to err on the side of honesty and not pretense.

In the process of writing, however, I have come to see prayer as a privilege, not a duty. all good things, prayer requires some discipline. Yet I believe that life with God should seem more friendship than duty.

In other words, prayer has features in common with all relationships that matter.

If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer. Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around the same two themes: why God doesn’t act the way we want God to, and why I don’t act the way God wants me to. Prayer is the precise point where those themes converge.

Excerpted with permission from Prayer: Does it Make a Difference? by Philip Yancey, copyright Philip D. Yancey.

* * *

Your Turn

What about you? How would you answer Philip Yancey’s questions:

Is prayer important to you? How often do you pray? Approximately how long? Do you find prayer satisfying? Do you sense the presence of God when you pray? 

Источник: //www.faithgateway.com/prayer-do-you-want-to-know-god/