Praying to Change God’s Mind

God is not change, but we see it happening. Dr. Tony Evans says it begins with the right kind of just want to reach God to God. This is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas and president of the government alternative. If God already knows everything.

Why would he ever have reason to change his mind. What were about to find out as Dr. Evans takes a look at when and why the Lord chooses to be flexible. We've all observed on TV and witness the tearful farewell happily when their playing days were over, they would we, as I was saying goodbye to the sport that they loved all grew up playing depressing, discouraging time. Looks like their career is over that some get so discouraged after they retire they try to combat because they miss it so very very much. God tells Hezekiah second Kings 20 this time to say goodbye through the prophet Isaiah says God told me to tell you set your house in order that will get your affairs. Make sure you will is intact. Make sure your family understands that it's terminal there will be no coming back from this illness.

You going to die.

Nothing is more painful to run into a terminal situation. A situation that offers no solution now here it was a physical illness but terminal situations can show up in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Maybe there is a terminal relationship.

Maybe there is a terminal hope all is going. Maybe it's the economics of terminal.

You don't see any way out and it throws you to tears to discouragement and hopelessness. Nobody you know no place you can go and nothing that you can do can fix the terminal situation in 2010 when the miners in Chile fell in that mineshaft and it collapsed. They would bear day after day. Many of the finest target as one Christian man was part of the group with great fear and trepidation.

They look and said what are we going to do the Christian among them, looked at the group and said there's nothing we can do only God can fix this situation gets that bad and you can't see your way out. You look down the train tracks and the only light you see is an oncoming train because it looks hopeless.

No way out in your start with getting your house in order, because it's all in this context that we read that have the Kia turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He was looking at Isaiah but now the news from the prophet.

He turned his face to the wall and the Bible says he wept bitterly. He wept and cried like a baby to hear the bad news that there is no solution and that really is no solution. If God came from God. God said so God said get your affairs in order. When am I going to do, God sent the only thing you can do is go to God said, it says he turned his face to the wall and he went to God, who decreed that it was all so today I'm talking the phone configured so whatever you all the situation you are getting all the situation.

A situation where it appears to be terminal hopeless no solution. God is right in the mix with all the Kia pray whenever Kia prayed in verses three and four. Bailey verse three he says I want before you. I was truthful I gave you my whole heart. What was going God the credit report. He says God don't you remember that when I talk with you then I followed you another phone away from you but I stuck to the truth that didn't buy a lot.

Don't you remember my credit report. Now ask God to remember not have a memory issue whenever you see people asking God to remember, it's not because God is because they want God to pay special attention to it.this what would you live for you, followed you Matthew question. If you terminal situation and you shall God show spiritual credit report, how it read when you go to buy want to buy a house to go back and check your credit report that will see what short history of man and paying your bills, so if you got bad credit that you have bad credit up, then I don't trust you just because you say will be different this time that want to see your credit report that want to see your history. God look at my history with you.

Yes I did have this problem. I did have this small but if you check my credit report.if you get me out of this one.

This time I will serve for the rest of my life. But God did.

The credit report he checks out over the last 10 years made a promise five times the last 10 years. Every year I get a promise from you for two weeks you good with all the problems usually come January 1, and you do fall while you good with children will spend time with me.

You don't get to know me you tell me you're going to feast on my word. You tell me about you, giving you tell me you give some of the time the service that the check in the report see consistency. I know you're not perfect, but I don't even see consistency on that day when you're going to be in a terminal situation what your credit report look like it gives them a credit report.

He says I have followed you.

I am not with you. I stuck with your true return surprise. Why, because God will put us in situations where he is our only way out when there is no person you can talk to no deal. You can cut says he wept bitterly but that is weeping with his credit report. Though he had a great credit report, but he was in a terminal situation. You cannot decide on that day to change your credit report, you have to have built up along the way because you will need to cash it in on that day. Hezekiah cries out to God that this is not report any striving for mercy.

God tells Isaiah gone out into the middle of the court. The word of the Lord came in and say verse five return and say that the Kia, the leader of my people.

Thus says the Lord God the father. I have heard your prayer and I've seen you know you did it. I have heard your prayers and I have seen you do so first thing is, he prayed today got something here and include his credit report says I've heard your prayer, but I've also seen your tears.

I've heard what you said prayer, but I've also seen how you feel hurt your words but I've also read your heart hurt just be but I've also found that depth of your pain… Easy motion we don't talk a lot about the emotions of God. But we see it all in Scripture we see what God gets angry about the joy of the Lord so we can get joyful. The Bible talks about God being. Please being pleasured the feeling that all kinds of statements about God's feelings. You don't just want to reach God is you want to touch God talked because he is a feeling, God heard your words but I've also felt your pain but the Bible says about Jesus as he came to simplify with our startup. That's a feeling thing. That's why we want to just throw stuff up to God without trying to connect with God. We want to make the words would not feel hot.

You know how it is with people when they talk into it but they feel it we not connecting on this point and I can repeat back what you said, but they don't feel what you said we have that in human reactions and dynamics all the time God does not want to hear. He wants the field and nothing in the relationship like with what is said is also what is because when the words touched the heart.

You got a thing going on in the set. I've hurt your words. See, I feel what happened. He says I will heal you on the third day, you got to go up to the house of the Lord. Maybe you will get the appraisal you cry in the day to give your read Michelle three days I'm going God wants is now changed his mind. So does God change your density. Dr. Evans will come back in a moment to continue sorting that out when he brings us the second part of today's lesson from a series igniting kingdom. Prayer this two-volume 12 message collection will teach you how to pray with the power that can move mountains, solve problems, heal relationships in this Dr. Evans has been teaching today even change God's mind. Contact us right away and that yours with our thanks and appreciation for your donation to help keep Tony's teaching coming your way. This visit Tony Evans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 will get back to Dr. Evans in today's lesson right after this experience them access to the last three were set building in plenty of time. Serious accommodations first class online training of lesser experiences because rooms are filling up quick. Reserve your spot Tony Styler change God to change it.Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever God cannot change.

He said that over and over and over again in Scripture. But what we just saw God change. He said you will die thus says the Lord.

Couple minutes later you will not die. Thus the Lord so it went from a terminal situation to a 15 year reprieve, and I was only a couple of minutes because I am the only thing that happened between them what God said. The first time what God said the second time was a prayer full of emotion. How can they change lives. God change one of the things we need to go deeper in our knowledge of God. God is more than a theological word. Jeremiah 923 24 says let not the wise man, both because of his wisdom, let not the mighty mammals because it's my let not the rich man both because of his riches, if any man is going to both let it both convinced that he understands and knows me no way to know God is through his attributes, his characteristics or his perfections. God's characteristics, mercy, grace, true love, all holiness, righteousness of the presence of missions veracity God has character qualities, though character qualities are unchangeable, he will always be what he has always been you and I go through changes. We are not the same today as we used to be. We don't say we lack the same will smell the same. There are changes that occur in our life. Over time, God cannot change his essential nature, but a change while God cannot change his nature can and does change his action. Again, God's nature cannot change, but his actions may change how then does God change his action without changing his nature. Since his nature cannot change his action in this case does change that the book of Exodus 32 Moses is pleading in verses 714 on behalf of Israel because God is upset with him.

God is angry with any cries out to God and the Bible says and when God heard Moses prayer. Verse 14 he says God changed his mind. In other words, he reversed his previous decision that happened God is the God of wrath rather than just retribution against sin. That's what we can help because it's part of his makeup. However, God is also a God of love and you can't help that even that is where God seeks the well-being of the object love is a God of wrath. God love so depend on which part of his nature.

You are relating to what he does becoming an wrath, but he's free to shift to love on the same subject matter to be all that one subject, you will die of an illness on one subject from God to get going to live without changing his basic nature just had to shift which positive nature.

He applied it to God is a God of justice. He deals with right and wrong, fair and unfair. God is not a nursing on how you are relating to him. He can shift dealing with you from justice and switch over to mercy because he still being consistent with who is just relating it to another pot of his character.

So the issue with which part of his character. Are you relating to that well of what he's free to change without changing so if you want God's bad side, and therefore are undergoing the consequences. But you ship to be more God's good side. God can and does shift to another part of his character which allows him to change his action without affecting his being Jonah chapter 3 verses 1 to 10 Jonah you go preach and you tell them in 40 days net about his goal be destroyed going to be destroyed and 40 days for calendar, 40, 40 days from now will be normal, but chapter 3 of Jonah says during the 40 day the people of Nineveh repented and got right with God and man. It says and when God saw that they repented he change his mind and destroy them. He preserved why would you even tell 40 days you will be destroyed unless you were giving them a 40 day window to adjust to another part of who you are so good times in the Bible God will give a timeline to give an opportunity to get a chance to shift to another part of his character so we can change this action without affecting his beating because he still will be a God of wrath now freedom focus is love in this particular situation. So, God changes his mind and he says you are going to live. You are not going to die. I'm going to deliver you versus I would give you 15 years and when I give you 15 years and deliver you. I will deliver this city from the hand of the king of Assyria and defend the city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David okay watch this when you in a terminal situation and God changes his mind and reverses something and give you a new lease on life, whatever that terminal scenario is is not just for you. Not just for you. He said when I give you this 50 years ago on potty I'm giving you 15 years because I want to you. You live about people from the attack of the Assyrians turn this around and not only to give you like about know that's what you plan for. But I also want to give you purpose and I want to give you a new opportunity to do something for me see most of the time when we have a terminal situation is only about me myself and I want God to do something for me. That is my best interest, and that's okay but it can't be limited to you. When God gives you a new opportunity want you to be a blessing not just be blessed and has a problem with a lot of this blessed stuff out here today I want to be blessed. I want to be rich. I want to grab this.

I want to have that which in itself is not a problem… By itself, unless it only involves you see the prelude to the prior God I'm in a terminal situation. I need to affect another part of your character you to reverse the situation so that not only cannot situation be changed so that I can be a conduit to change somebody else's. So it was only about you missing God that I got a bigger plan for you because you live in 15 years. I want to deliver and I want to deliver the whole city from the Assyrians God tells the prophet take a cake of things they took the blame on the boil and he recovered okay so he died from an infection got a boil that's going to kill it, which means he has an infection, running through his body. God tells the prophet go-getter for cake put the fig cake on the boil. Stop the infection so that he can live give any doctor he wants but because this was a spiritual issue and not merely a medical issue… What a hold of a plan to heal him apart from the plant that the professionals would use the professionals, you would be terminally ill in the first place. God is not against medicine affect all the medicine you use his birth. God is already made to any doctor using any medicine depend on some God is already made to produce the medicine that we take is nothing wrong with using medicine.

If everything wrong with using medicine without God see it started with God.

He got right with God.the medicine worked.

So he hears a word from God. Isaiah does to help a sick kid so he puts the dictate on him. It sucks out the infection and now he's healed.

But all Hezekiah has a question. What shall be the sign verse eight that the Lord will heal me that he was just totally going signs in the Bible were designed to confirm the word of God to give you something you could grab God is not against confirming signs. He is a gang signs that are not safe with his word.

So his word can be confirmed by a visual Isaiah says Alaska God told me to tell you this will be the sign when you get to choose.

Do you want the sun to move forward 10 steps or do you want the sun to go back 10 steps translation. This is the first daylight saving times in history you want to bring forward all fall back got all the daylight saving time. He says I'll speed up the time or I'll slow down the time you choose. God says well speed up the time I'm not troubled by that because that was 26. He said let me take the harder one that see you back up the time the constant letter roll back and low back 10 steps.

Time went backwards. God has you for bring the kingdom purpose and he wants to use you. Even if he allows a terminal situation. The situation that Dr. Evans will come back in a moment to wrap up our program with the final challenge, but first I want to let you know that the popular film journey with Jesus, starring Dr. Evans, Crystal Priscilla and Anthony Evans is available now for a limited time to stream online journey with Jesus previously only shown in theaters was filmed on location in Israel and follows the steps of Jesus through the holy land. Get more information on how you can stream this powerful film. When you visit Tony Evans.org and that's also the place to go to get a copy of Tony's current two volume 12 lesson audio series igniting kingdom. Prayer issuers with our thanks when you make a donation to help continue this listener supported ministry make the arrangements today@tonyevans.org or by calling 1-800-800-3222 again that's Tony Evans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.

Our resource team members are available 20 4/7 a call anytime of the day or night when were facing a crisis big or small. We have two choices. Listen to our feelings or listen to her face. Next time, Dr. Evans will explain how our choice affects how we pray and how God answers right now though Tony's back with a final thought for today so challenge you as we wind down, change your credit report because when that time comes you want to be able to say, God, God, look at my credit report. I haven't been perfect. I have failed.

But what I have picked up and I have decided to surrender to you to pursue a relationship with you to love the Lord my God with all my heart my mind my my personal to serve you want to serve others.

God, I am yours. I am yours and the good thing about a credit report is that they will allow you to let it change bill allow bad credit to become medium credit to become.

Some critics thought about how bad your credit report used to be, change your credit when terminal date, you can help God something to respond. The alternative with Dr. Tony is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you