Our Father...
Here's an excerpt from Our Father..., an article written by R.C. Sproul from the Tabletalk archives:
People ask, "Does prayer change God's mind?" To ask such a question is to answer it. What kind of God could be influenced by my prayers? What could my prayers do to induce Him to change His plans? Could I possibly give God any information about anything that He doesn't already have? Or could I persuade Him toward a more excellent way by my superior wisdom? Of course not. I am completely unqualified to be God's mentor or His guidance counselor. So the simple answer is that prayer does not change God's mind.
But suppose we ask the question of the relationship between God's sovereignty and our prayers in a slightly different way: "Does prayer change things?" Now the answer is an emphatic "Yes!" The Scriptures tell us that "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). This text declares that prayer is effectual. It is not a pious exercise in futility. That which is futile avails nothing. Prayer, however, avails much. That which avails much is never futile.
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