In the third of her series of articles Becky Peacock sets our why God’s immutability is so important for the prayer life of our families
We know that prayer matters, but if your home is anything like mine then the fast pace of busy family life often means it doesn’t get the time or the focus that you wish it did. With conflicting clubs and extracurricular activities routines are all over the place and bedtimes are not as consistent as they once were. Mealtimes are chaotic and often filled with others around the table too, and those special moments when you’re all together as a family are too few and far between.
These are some key moments when prayer used to feature more heavily in my home, and now that the seasons have changed so have the rhythms and routines which once worked for us. This leaves us fighting to prioritise the same values around prayer even if the practicalities need to look a little different. Change is difficult, and headspace to process the new seasons is even harder to come by, but for us mortals it is a process we have to get used to because change is inevitable.
Is God like us? Does he change?
God, however, is immutable. That doesn’t mean he’s silent (phew!) It means he is unchanging. In all of the changes and seasons of life God is the same. He doesn’t change his mind, his will, his character, or his promises. The same God who called Abraham, empowered Moses, forgave David, and fought for the Israelites is the same God that we get to pray to today. This is good news! Let me tell you why.
When we pray, we’re not trying to convince God to do something he hasn’t already planned, we are partnering with him in order that we might know him, love him and see his goodness!
Have you ever had those moments when your child comes and asks you for something, you say “no”, and then they keep on trying to persuade you anyway? Just mine?! It’s because I am not immutable. I change my mind. I’ve obviously demonstrated something in my parenting decisions that show I adapt, make and break promises, move the goalposts, and that I am potentially persuadable in each and every decision I make. My kids perceive that when I respond “no” it is not the final word, in fact my words are changeable. We need a better, more dependable, immutable word to stand on than just my fickle responses. We need a final Word that doesn’t change like the shifting shadows (James 1:17) and who is the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Hmmm I wonder who that might be!
It often drives me crazy when my kids keep on pushing and pleading when I’ve given what I think are clear answers, but instead I guess it should be a reminder to me that I am a fickle mortal in need of a dependable immutable God! God’s word is utterly dependable and completely unchanging. What God has promised will happen. What he has spoken remains true. He is therefore utterly trustworthy, dependable, and reliable.
If God is utterly unchanging then what is the point of praying?
If I can’t change God’s mind, and he’s going to do what he planned anyway, then why bother asking?
Jesus tells his disciples a story in Luke 11 about a neighbour in need of bread, he knocks on the door in the dead of night but the neighbour says no, come back tomorrow. But instead of going home the man bangs louder and louder until the neighbour relents and gives him what he asks for. Jesus tells us that this is a lesson about prayer, he teaches “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9) So does that mean that God is likely to change his mind if we pray hard enough after all? How can Jesus’ teaching on persistence in prayer line up with God’s immutable character?
Prayer isn’t about persuasion, it’s about partnership
Jesus’ story about the neighbour comes sandwiched between two descriptions of God as our Father. We pray to “Our Father in heaven” who has all power, might, and authority (v2), a Father whom we have the shameless audacity to approach with our needs (v8). But we also pray to a loving Father who loves to give good gifts to his children (v13). God is not reluctant to help us, like the neighbour was in the night. He is an eager and willing Father ready to bestow good gifts on those who ask. Jesus isn’t teaching that prayer is about persuasion, he is teaching that it is about partnership.
God could achieve all of his immutable plans with or without us. He is able! He doesn’t need us! To borrow Jesus’ story, He could have bestowed unlimited bread on the neighbour without him even needing to come knocking. But then how would the neighbour know his need? How would he know friendship, compassion or provision which comes from partnering in mission together?
Read more:
Answering your child’s questions: What’s the point of praying? Because God is all powerful
Answering your child’s questions: What’s the point of praying? Because God is all knowing
My husband and I had the age-old conversation about what to have for dinner the other day. Don’t judge my parenting, but we decided to have McDonalds. But rather than just putting the order in and presenting it on a plate half an hour later to our kids, we waited for them to ask (as they inevitably do more days than I care to admit!) We wanted to be parents who could bestow the good gift on our children when they asked, we wanted to be able to say “yes” to something they loved. It was our plan, but it was their asking that enabled the plan to happen.
When we pray, we’re not trying to convince God to do something he hasn’t already planned, we are partnering with him in order that we might know him, love him and see his goodness! How cool is that! In God’s great wisdom he has chosen to achieve his purposes by you and I coming to him and asking. He could do it without us, but he chooses to include us.
God’s immutability shouldn’t leave us passive wondering ‘what’s the point of praying’ it should stir us to partner with God in his steadfast, perfectly good, right, and reliable will for our lives. When your children ask you “why should I bother to pray if God’s going to do it anyway” then teach them the joy of partnering with God, both for their good and for God’s glory. Wonder together, “what might God want to do through us?”
In our busy changing lives, prayer requires no packing, no planning, no preparation or qualification. Prayer is oh so simple and makes a whopping impact on our families, our communities, and our kids. Prayer is good for us! Prayer helps us grow closer to God, and prayer helps us partner with him to achieve his purposes. What a privilege!
