By Faith Enterprises

Is it Not the Very Unchangeableness of God which is Our Greatest Encouragement to Pray?

Tip! In (Phil. 4:6) we have these words about prayer: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

There is a quote from one of the newest books written on Prayer that I would like to examine, in it the author says, "The possibilities and necessity of prayer, its power and results, are manifested in arresting and changing the purposes of God and in relieving the stroke of His power." Such a claim as this is a horrible reflection on the character of the Most High God, who "doeth according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Dan. 4: 35). There is no need whatsoever for God to change His plan or alter His purpose. The all-sufficient and only reason is because these were framed under the influence of perfect goodness and faultless wisdom. People may on the other hand have cause to alter their purposes, because in their short-sightedness they are frequently unable to anticipate what may arise after their plans are formed. But this is not so with God, for He knows the end as will as He knows the beginning. To support the notion that God changes His purpose is either to reject His goodness or to deny His eternal wisdom.

In this same book we are told, "The prayers of God's saints are the capital stock in Heaven by which Christ carries on His great work upon earth. The great throes and mighty convulsions on earth are the results of these prayers. Earth is changed, revolutionized, angels move on more powerful, more rapid wing, and God's policy is shaped as the prayers are more numerous, more efficient." If possible, this quote is even worse then the first, and I have no hesitation in showing it to be blasphemy. In the first place, it flatly denies Ephesians 3:11 which says: "According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:" this is God the Father having an "eternal purpose." If God's purpose is an eternal one then His "policy" is not being "shaped" today by people praying. In the second place, it contradicts Ephesians 1:11 which expressly declares' that God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will," surely this shows that "God's policy" is not being "shaped" by people's prayers. In the third place, such a statement as the quote above makes the will of the creature (people) supreme, for if our prayers shape God's policy then the Most High is subordinate to us worms of the earth. This is why the Holy Spirit asks through the Apostle Paul, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?" Romans 11:34

Tip! “Supplication” is the very soul of prayer in the way of pleading for some one thing, very much needed, and the need intensely felt.

Such thoughts on prayer as I have been citing in this article are due to a very low and inadequate perception of God Himself. It ought to be apparent that there can be little or no comfort at all in praying to a God that was like a chameleon, which changes its color every day or at the whim of his surroundings. What encouragement is there to lift up our hearts to a God who was in one frame of mind yesterday and another today? What would be the use of petitioning an earthly monarch if we knew he was so mutable as to grant a petition one day and deny it another? Is it not the very unchangeableness of God which is our greatest encouragement to pray? It is because He is "without variableness or shadow of turning" we are assured that if we ask anything according to His will we are most certain of being heard. Luther remarked well by saying, "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness."

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