Prayer: Can We Influence God?

James 5:13-18

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (v. 13-16)

Often times people have asked whether we can influence God through our prayers. Can we get the car we want through praying? More importantly, can we influence God to heal a person from a deadly disease? In truth, I believe we can, but not in the ways that most present the question. After all, we have been taught that "we do not have, because we do not ask God (James 4:2)". However, God is not a suggestion box, where we offer our requests to Him and hope that it would be answered. He's not sitting around and reviewing these requests to determine how to address the issue. It is not like He has formed an opinion only to be swayed to a different one by how many times the same prayer is prayed or how earnest it is prayed. If so, it would take away the characteristics of God. He is pure, holy, and just.

One very challenging concept to understand is that we are bound by time, whereas God is not. God exists where time is not a limitation. However, he operates... and more importantly has a relationship with us within our time. Therefore, the idea of "influencing" is somewhat lost because it is done in time... it is a process that is in done in time. Regardless, prayer is about the relationship.

One devotional uses the paradox of a farmer. The farmer would till the soil, plant the seed, and water as best they can. They have no ability to cause it to grow. Similarly, we know that we can offer our prayers to God, but it God who will allow it to happen. God can allow things to happen without any of our prayers. However, our God is a loving God who seeks our relationship. He wants to operate within our lives, not above it. He seeks to involve us in His work.

Prayer therefore does "influence" God, but it is about our relationship with Him. It is primarily for our benefit. It allows us to be in tune with the Lord. Let us remember that prayer is complete when it operates in both directions; our words/requests to Him, and His words to us. Again, it is about the relationship. Our Scriptures today says "prayer offered in faith" and the "prayer of a righteous man". These qualifiers helps us understand that it is our attitude, and more importantly, it is about our relationship with Him. After James 4:2, verse 3 continues, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." If we are only asking simply for the betterment of ourselves, then how is it building our relationship with the Lord?

Prayer is indeed "powerful and effective." It allows us to draw nearer to Him, and more importantly be in tune with Him and to be more like Him. Isn't this what we ultimately seek. Prayer therefore is a necessity, and it should always be offered to Him. We should always seek Him earnestly, and make our requests known to Him.