As a boy growing up in southern California, my family spent a lot of time at the beach. It was a recreational activity that we all loved, plus it was free. We would take off most Monday’s since it was my dad’s day off, and spend the whole day swimming, making sand castles, napping, throwing footballs, and just enjoying the sun. Even from the time I was very young, about 6 years old, my dad would take me out into the ocean. Obviously, as a 6 year old, I had a healthy fear of the ocean and it’s waves. It made me feel small, helpless and insecure, but my father’s confidence always put me at ease. He always said, “Once we get out past the waves there will be nothing to worry about, it’s completely peaceful.” In order to get out past the surf, we were forced to go right through it. When the waves were small, my dad would lift me up, and send me shooting over the wave, but as they got bigger, we were forced to go under them. I still remember my dad preparing me for the big waves, he would say, “ ok, here it comes, you ready to go under? On the count of three get as close to the bottom as possible.” As soon as He started counting my heart would begin to beat a million beats per second. I remember vividly the feeling of the wave rushing over me, sometimes I wouldn’t get low enough and the wave tossed me around like a shirt in the washing machine. I would scramble to figure up from down, desperately seeking the surface of the water. As I finally came to the top, I would immediately hear my dad’s voice encouraging, and re-assuring me. Almost as if He had been watching me struggle to find my way, and only jumped in to my aid when I needed it most. When I cried out, he was there, but not always with a hand, sometimes just the encouragement to keep going, keep swimming, and stay focused. With each dive under another wave, I longed for the one that would find me out far enough to be outside the range of the breaking surf. When it came, it was like a rushing sensation of freedom and peace. My dad would pull me toward him, celebrate our victory over the waves, and we would float peacefully over the swells, up and down. IT was here that I remember falling in love with the ocean and the waves. It was my fathers careful, responsive hand that kept me believing I could do it. It was his presence, encouragement and confidence that kept me moving when I wanted to turn back. Most of all, it was knowing that at any moment, I could cry out to him, and in a heart beat he would be at my side, coming to my aid. My father loved me, longed for what was best for me. He wanted to protect me from things I didn’t know were coming, and teach me about things I didn’t know existed. He wanted me to learn to trust him, and depend on him. He wanted me most of all to experience something powerful, and sometimes that meant letting me flounder for a moment. His responsive action to my every emotion was as real and consistent as his presence.

I am preaching a sermon this sunday titled, "Does prayer change God's mind," and although I do not believe i will ultimately be able to harness the mystery of such a question, I think the above story illustrates well the relationship God has with His people, their lives, and their prayers.

It begins with asking if God has emotions for us.

- If God has no emotions for us, then He is a robot, incapable of relationship

- If God has emotions and doesn't respond to our outcries in prayer then He is a tyrant who doesn't want relationship

- Therefore, God must have emotions for His people, and must be responsive to our outcries, pleas, and prayers.

Obviously we know that God is unchanging... sovereign, and omniscient. His foreknowledge could create in our minds a lack of need for prayer. If God knows everything, and His will is unstoppable, then what role can our prayers really play? We cannot change God's mind.

The mystery here has to be wrapped up in the how. If we know God does call us to pray, and He responds emotionally, and acts on our requests, then it's the how that is perplexing. That may be a question we cannot answer, given Paul's sentiments in Romans 11, "Who has know the mind of the Lord..." but we can get a sense of the value of prayer.

A couple thoughts...

1. It's vital to understanding God to know that He is emotionally changed at the heart level by our lives, feelings, prayers, etc. I think to see it any other way is to deny God's love for us.

2. He interacts with us. He doesn't just have emotions that hang out in no mans land. His desire is to interact, be involved, and be Lord of our lives. He wants our fears, hopes, dreams, etc. Interaction is key to any relationship. If He doesn't interact with us, we have no relationship at all. We see all over in scripture God interacting with His people.

3. God moves as a result of our prayers. It's true, weather our prayers are the actual catalyst for that change, I don't know, but we know that our prayers affect change, we see God being swayed by Elijah's prayer, and we see God's anger squelched by Moses' prayer. Prayer works! IT changes things. When we cry out to God with a pure heart, He responds... often times with the very thing we are asking for. Crazy isn't it?

Do we dare claim to serve a God that chooses to let us impact our world? Does it make Him weak? Does it make Him even stronger?

God created man to be in perfect loving relationship with Him. Prayer is our mode of relating with God. IF our prayers are not powerful, impactful, and effective, then the fabric of our faith vanishes in the wind. Prayer works... believe in it. live in it. be transformed by it!