Troublesome Topic: DOES ASKING FOR FAVORS EVER CHANGE THE ACTIONS OF GOD?

The short answer is “Yes, but it may not be pleasant.”

I only see two ways in which asking God for a favor can change the actions of God. In both cases it has to do with the issue of means, or the method by which God does His work.

HE MAY SAY “YES” TO A BAD IDEA IN ORDER TO TEACH US SOMETHING OR HELP US GROW

Does asking God for a favor sometimes cause Him to do something He was not planning on doing? Well, it does not change His purpose for you, but it may effect a change in the means or method He uses to guide you to His desired end.

In some ways God is like a human parent. When we beg for something, God may allow us to have it in order to learn a lesson from it.

The best human example I can think of is a story my wife tells about her childhood. When she accompanied her mom to the grocery store, she would often beg her mom to get her a kid’s cereal instead of just the boring kinds that mom and dad ate. The answer was always “No.” But finally, there was one time when the answer was “Ok.” My wife had been drooling over a new kind of cereal she called “Strawberry Cow” cereal (I think it was the strawberry version of Crazy Cow cereal). This one time her mom got it for her. The next morning, she was excited to try it – she was sure it would be great. She filled a bowl as full as she could, poured in the milk and took a bite, only to be hugely disappointed. It was not at all what she had expected; it didn’t taste anything like the picture had caused her to imagine. But she knew she had to eat the whole bowl, so she ate it without grumbling too much. The next day her parents told her that she had to keep eating it until the whole box was gone. So, over several days she ate the entire box of Strawberry Crazy Cow cereal. She never begged for a new kind of cereal again.

We see from this that her parents ended up buying her something that they would not ordinarily have purchased. We also see that she learned a lesson from it. The end goal her parents had of preparing her for adulthood was achieved, although a change in teaching method did occur.

Does God sometimes answer our requests for favors even if it is bad for us?  I think that sometimes He does because it will achieve His purpose. He knows when to say “Yes” and when to say “No”. It may seem to us that we changed God’s mind and convinced Him to do what we wanted, but in reality, He was still working to achieve His goals in our life and only changed the means by which those goals were accomplished.

This fits with the idea of means; God may change the method He used to go about something, but His end goal or purpose has not changed.

Now consider how we often ask God to heal someone. This is obviously asking God for a favor because He has not obliged Himself to always heal. Are there times when the way God works in our life and the life of a loved one who is sick may take a different course based on our requests? It is possible. God sometimes responds to our requests. But when you make such a request, remember this – if God does heal, things may not turn out just like you envision them. There are often accompanying conditions or situations which are unpleasant to us. We must also remember that God allows illness and pain in our lives for different reasons. If the reason is for us or our loved one to learn a lesson, God is less likely to heal when we ask Him to, or if He does, He will send a different, often more challenging situation than the first. When it comes to praying for someone who is sick, it is far better to ask God to glorify Himself and allow Him to decide how He wants to do it.

In these cases, while asking for a favor has effected a small change in the actions of God, it is not something we should desire or strive for; it usually means that the method involved in our growth will be harder, not easier. It is as if God were saying, “You really think you want this? Okay, I will give you what you asked for to show you that this is not as good as you thought it would be.”

James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive because you ask with evil intent, so that you can squander it on your pleasures” (my own translation).

GOD MAY CHANGE THE MEANS BY WHICH HE BLESSES US

God sometimes grants our requests for favors because He is a loving Father who enjoys blessing our socks off. Therefore, if God desires to bless you, He may wait for you to ask Him for a specific blessing and then grant you what you asked for. This may seem from a human perspective like you have changed the mind of God, or at least influenced the actions of God by your request for a favor. That would be true regarding the means, but the general plan of God to bless you at that juncture in life did not change, only the means by which He blessed you was influenced by your request.

HOW CAN WE CHANGE GOD’S MIND IF HE KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN BEFORE IT HAPPENS?

This topic gets a bit complicated because we are talking about a God who knows what will happen before it happens. Maybe the word “change” is too strong. What I am trying to communicate is that our relationship with God is a dynamic, two-way street in which He does take into account our requests. But we need to remember who is God, and who is not God.

You can ask Daddy for favors; He allows that. But realize that doing so can be a bit dangerous. The results of asking for favors are seldom what we had hoped for. We will often find that God’s way of answering our request for a favor is not fully satisfactory to us; it may include a price tag we had not anticipated, or He may move the goal posts on us (He is the only one who has the right to move goal posts). If we are begging God for favors, His purpose is most likely not that same as ours. While our purpose may be to make our lives easier, God’s purpose is to make our life better, more like Him, and that does not come easily. Big lessons are never learned with zero effort.

LEARN TO IDENTIFY SATAN’S INVOLVMENT IN PRAYER

Meanwhile, Satan loves it when we focus on ourselves and he has managed to trick us into turning praying into something that often revolves around self. He makes us think it is a legitimate act of prayer to beg God for something we want for ourselves. Then, if God does not answer, or if God’s answer is different than what we expected, Satan uses that disappointment to tell us that prayer does not work and God is not a loving God after all.

THE STATEMENT “PRAYER CHANGES THINGS”

This oft-repeated statement has been used many times in reference to asking for favors. This is a bit deceptive; it gives people the wrong idea. They hear this and think they can receive the outcome or result they desire by asking God for it; kind of like magic. This idea puts us in the driver’s seat. But that is not the way God works. He is God; He knows what is best for us; He is always working to draw us closer to Him. The only thing that can possibly change is the tool God grabs to do His work. He will not be derailed from His great purpose. If we think we know what we need, and if we think God has promised to do our bidding if we ask Him anything, we are setting ourselves up for a huge disappointment. Whatever is the Strawberry Cow cereal of your life is sure to bring the same disappointment my wife experienced. And being a wise teacher that He is, God will likely make you eat the whole box.

CONCLUSION

While God allows us to ask Him for favors, while He sometimes grants those favors, and while He may even change the methods He uses based on our requests, asking God for favors is a bit risky. The results are seldom what we wanted because God cannot be manipulated. It is much more desirable in the end, more fitting with our special design, and more in line with our calling, to discipline ourselves to engage in true prayer and through it sense God’s burdens and receive a greater understanding of God’s heart. Let’s stop playing stupid little kids’ games and choose the high calling of true prayer.

The next lesson is TIMES WHEN ASKING FOR FAVORS SEEM TO HAVE CHANGED GOD’S MIND