Billy Graham: No, You Can’t Change God’s Mind With More Prayer
Question:
Does God get weary when we pray to Him about the same thing over and over?
Answer:
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham:
No, the Bible says to persist in prayer and to pray about everything. God does not always answer the way we think He should, or when we think He should. (We should be grateful for this—He knows far better than we do what is best!). But the Bible tells us to always keep on praying (1 Thess. 5:17). Jesus, in fact, told a parable about a persistent widow who constantly begged a judge to act on her case, which he eventually did (Luke 18:1-8).
One reason Jesus told this parable was to encourage us to pray frequently.Keep in mind two things. First, we cannot change God’s mind about something He has already answered. In other words, God will answer a prayer sometimes with a “no” rather than a “yes,” and sometimes with a “wait.” Are we willing to accept His will? Always pray according to God’s will.
Second, there are times that we ourselves should take action as well as pray. Often, we become the answer to our own prayers. Jesus told His disciples to ask Him to send workers into His harvest field, and in the very next verse we find that the disciples themselves went to the field to do God’s work (Matt. 9:38, 10:1).
Prayer is one of the privileges of the child of God, made possible because Jesus Christ has opened up the way to our Father. God loves us and does not want us to be anxious about anything, but faithfully pray about everything with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6). {eoa}
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
