Do you think it's possible to "change God's mind"......?

Question

I always hoped that somehow we could change God's mind on the outcomes of situations..like if we prayed enough or had enough/gained more faith in him. I thought that prayer 'worked' in the sense that IF you pray, it will possibly be answered...but if God knows everything that WILL happen anyway...how is it possible to change what is already happening anyway? Hope this isn't too confusing....

Answer 1

If God is the potter and we are the clay. To make a valuable piece of specially crafted object we need to be soft workable clay. The delicate pieces of pottery that take expert craftsmanship are worth the most and show off the potter's skills. These pieces are His prize possession.

Prayer is a great way to ask for mercy and to see what God is trying to teach us through our circumstances. God promised his people that He is doing great things in our life to grow and prosper us not to harm us. We need to be trusting in God to handle our lives and even take our family members to a better place in his timing.
Moses changed God's mind and had God lead his people with the cloud, and Jacob wrestled with God to protect him from Esau when Jacob found out Esau was coming to meet him. Jacob was afraid of Esau getting revenge on him.

Pray away, Peace, Love and Laughter

Answer 2

God has given us a wonderful thing, called free will. He could have made us do everything he ever wanted when he wanted the way he wanted, but he didn't make robots. He made people with minds to choose. Yes, God knows what we will do, but we don't. We have many paths to follow, and prayer will help YOU find the path, not give God a reason to change an outcome. If you are in a bad situation, look at what got you there. God isn't going to change physics or undo a past action because you pray hard....water is wet, whether you are drowning or putting out a fire...but that's an entirely different conversation....things happen because of actions you or someone else took. You pray to God that you can live with the outcome and the consequences and try to make better decisions in the future. I wish you well....

Answer 3

If good and bad are subjective, it is only because there is no God, at least not in the theistic sense. If God exists, and if he involves himself in the lives of humans, and if he has set out right and wrong, I mean. Religious people will define "sin" as anything outside God's will. Obviously there are more or less consequences depending on which "sin" is committed here on earth. But in God's eyes, anything straying from the life he wishes for us is "sin". Most major religions have a concept called "consistency", in other words, no, God could not change his/her mind. Philosophically, this makes sense. If God changed his/her mind, that would mean he/she was at some point inconsistent with him/herself. In other words, God would have been something less than fully "actualized" or perfect. And the greatest possible being, God, could not be less than perfect by definition. Therefore, God can't change his mind...

Answer 4

A very small number of people can change Gods mind.

You have to be living a righteous life. Moses did when God was going to destroy the people for idol worship.

The king of Nineveh did when Jonah told them God was going to destroy the city because of sin. The king declared everyone to fast and pray and to repent, God would have destroyed that city if they hadn't.

God has his mind made up an he will do what is prophesied. He can't go against his word. But on smaller scale he will for the sake of a repented heart.

But I wonder what do you think the outcomes on a situation will be anyway? Situations arise to challenge our faith and it looks like things are going wrong but God is just testing us. That's where prayer come in to cause God to move for us,to work out a situation. That's not changing his mind but believing on him through prayer.

Answer 5

"Hey, Ray" has a point. Although there are some things in life that are inevitable, our lives are built around the choices that we make so it is not like everything we do was determined by God. And God decides what to do with us as a result of the choices we make and sometimes we can pray for him to change his decisions.

There's one other thing i'd like to add. I think a lot of people, including many believers, negate the importance of prayer. Prayer and reading the bible are like the two most important things anyone can possibly do to strengthen the relationship that they have with God. People do not seem to realize enough that our God is ALIVE and active and this is a way to communicate with him. It is a time wehre we not only ask Him for things, but we also praise Him. Afterall, we're here to serve Him, not vice versa.

Answer 6

There seems to be several instances of God changing his mind in the old testament. Some have already been mentioned. But there are more. You can find them yourself. Genuine prayer always moves God. Even though God knows the end, prayer will move him. In most of the stories where God was moved, the ultimate outcome was exactly what he was moved from. So in effect, it was delayed. The problem always is that man's pride will eventually come into play. Seems as if we just can't handle prosperity in our lives very long before we start looking to ourselves as the source rather than God who gave it in the first place. Once we take control, God is left out.

Answer 7

You and others seem to have a misunderstanding of God's omniscience. It is not the same as predestination. We all have free will. That means that we ourselves have the power to change the outcome of a matter. Think about this: If your entire life course were already predestined, it would not matter what you did. Whether you practiced healthy habits or exercised caution while driving or not, you would still die at a predestined point in time.
Read what the Bible says at Deuteronomy 30:15-20. There God gave the nation of Israel a choice between a blessing and a malediction. By obedience to him, they were choosing good, by disobedience, they chose bad. He foretold what would be the outcome for them in either case but did not predestine them to do either.

Answer 8

I think that God gives everyone free will, so things can ultimately change. He leads us to a crossroads and we must decide which way to go. The same goes for prayers. He wants to give us all that we desire, but he can see the "whole" picture when we can only see what is happening to us now. So, actually I do think that God looks at our motives, prayers and the way we are living our lives to decide which way to go on things based on His ability to seeing the future and the past. I hope this makes some sense, it does to me. LOL!

Answer 9

look everybody has free will. Jesus has did enough to the point God doesn't have to tamper with life.... if you knew there was not a God what would you do commit crimes for a living. and if you truly indeed new that there was God would change all of a sudden and learn of him. some people live to their a 100 some people live till 18 or 19. these years of life is nothing compared to what God promises us eternal life. compared to a hundred years. COME ON!

Answer 10

Confusing? Well,a little. You mean why pray if he does as he wishes anyway,irrespective of our imprecations? Because He often grants us His mercy,that's why. He doesn't have to,it's an act of grace. But it does happen; prayers for favors are often received. But think also of prayers of thanksgiving. Why try to change God's mind anyway? What for/ Who cares? Let Him do everything His way,and forget about the rest.