"Is God Influenced by Prayer?"
YES. If any thing is certain, that is certain. Hear his own words; "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will hear thee, and thou shalt glorify me." "Ask and ye shall receive." "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that I will do." "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." "Elisha was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." These explanations are entirely explicit, and they admit of but one interpretation. They show, not only a command for prayer, but also a promise for prayer. Our blessed Lord spake a parable to this end, "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." He spake a parable to the end that men should persist in prayer; and that persistency in prayer shall be rewarded. "But your trouble arises from God's immutability." No, it does not; it arises from your failing to distinguish between the immutability of God, and the immutability of a mountain. You first assume, or permit your pupils to assume, what God has nowhere affirmed, and then gravely inquire, how this impediment is to be surmounted. There is no impediment, none whatever. God is immutably determined to hear and reward our prayer. He is unalterably pledged to bestow blessings on those who fervently pray for them, which he will not give to those who do not ask. If you believe this, stick to your belief, and act upon it.