Does God Change His Mind?

Can you believe that tomorrow is October? Time certainly flies when you are having fun (or working too hard...)
Tonight, I lead our bible study group on the topic of prayer. How appropriate that this week’s reading entitled, “Does God Change His Mind?” compares our petitions to God with that of a child to a parent. With Jocelyn old enough to CLEARLY verbalize her requests, I understand this analogy:

Jocey - Mommy, can I please have ice cream

Loving Mother – If you finish your dinner

J – But I don’t want dinner, I want ice cream

M – I love ice cream too, but we need other things in our belly to make us strong

J – I don’t like other things, I like ice cream

M – Clear your plate

J – (Hands clasped over eyes, quiet sobs, food on floor)

And so it goes - me denying each request for her benefit – Jocey not mature enough to understand why. All the while, we continue. At the end of the day, she can’t live off ice cream. She has to eat well balanced or she can never grow up to be Your Honorable Jocelyn Rose Shrader.

Regardless of my wisdom or certainty that my way is best, every now and then, when she makes her request ever so sweetly, and when I know realistically breaking the rules now and then is good for the soul, I give in. I change my plans to bring my baby joy.

That’s what I think I have discovered through this particular lesson. We may not understand why God says no or is unresponsive to our deepest requests. The ones we bring to him repeatedly and passionately. We might think, He’s God, He knows how it will all play out so prayer is a waste of time.

And yes, God is unchanging. He is LOVE and as such cares about us and all we care about. That will not change. It’s because of this unchanging love that I believe he will “give-in” now and then and act in ways he may not have if we hadn’t taken those important steps of faith through prayer and acknowledging that we are not in control.