Do prayers have the ability to influence God?

Do prayers have the ability to influence God?

ABSOLUTLEY!!

During Jesus time on Earth, people had requests for Him, thus these were prayers. Every time he performed a miracle, whether it was a healing, death-raising, turning water-to-wine, calming the raging sea, deliverance, forgiving of sins, or any other requests that Jesus answered, indeed influenced God. After all, Jesus was the Son of God!

There are also many times in scripture when people make requests for God to perform a certain action and he does it. Let's look at three.

1. A prayer influences God to change the weather.
James 5:16-18 (NLT) 16. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years. 18. Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

2. A prayer influences God to send an angel.
Daniel 10:-12 (NLT) 10. Just then a hand touched me and lifted me, still trembling, to my hands and knees. 11. And the man said to me, "Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you." When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling. 12. Then he said, "Don't be afraid Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer."
NOTE: The "man" is identified as the angel Gabriel in Daniel 8:16-27.

3. A prayer influences God's decision to destroy a city.
* Note: All verses are from the NLT.
Genesis 18:20-21; 20. So the Lord told Abraham, "I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. 21. I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.
Genesis 18: 23-24; 23. Abraham approached him and said, "Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? 24. Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city--will you spare it for their sakes?"
Genesis 18:28 And the Lord replied, "If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake."
This conversation continues between Abraham and the Lord. Abraham lowers the numbers each time. He asked...If I find forty-five righteous people, will you destroy the whole city? The Lord says He would not destroy the city.
This continues with: forty, thirty, twenty, finally ten. Each time, the Lord heard the prayer and was influenced to not destroy the city due to Abraham's humble request.
Sadly, Abraham could not find ten righteous people. So, the Lord destroyed the city. Only Lot, his wife, and two daughters made it safely out of the city.
BUT, the Lord listened to Abraham and would have changed His decision to destroy the city--if ten righteous were found.

Finally, a personal witness. In the Spring of 1989, my uvula became swollen. It gave me some pain, especially when I tried to yell at the softball players I was coaching, Of course, I went to the doctor and they did not solve the problem. Later in the summer of 1989 (about four months of swelling), I went to a Carman Concert. (Carman was a popular Christian singer in the 80s and 90s.) Toward the end of the concert, Carman asked if anyone needed a healing to raise their hand. I immediately raised my hand. Something touched my throat and the swelling went down to 30% above normal. (I don't know if God gave me that number or I decided.) I claimed it as a healing. Within 3 weeks, my uvula was normal size with no pain. It has never given me that trouble again! Praise the Lord!

You----I am confident many people have influenced God by prayer. Praise God, he is not a genie or Santa Claus, but He is the Lord of Heaven's armies, yet He cares about each of us.
Psalm 37:23 (NLT) The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.