Is It Then Possible If I Do Not Cooperate with God in Prayer for a Thing, to Thwart the Will of God from Happening Concerning That Thing?
1) Direct Answer
No—you cannot overthrow God’s sovereign purpose. But yes—if you refuse to pray, you can forfeit or delay the manifestation for yourself, invite chastening, or be passed by while God fulfills His will through another.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- God’s sovereign counsel stands: “No purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2); “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10); “None can stay His hand” (Daniel 4:35).
- Yet God ties many outcomes to prayer and faith: “You have not, because you ask not” (James 4:2). In Nazareth, “He did not many mighty works… because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58).
- God looks for intercessors to stay judgment: “I sought for a man… to stand in the gap… but I found none. Therefore I have poured out My indignation” (Ezekiel 22:30–31).
- Intercession changes what we experience: Moses stood in the breach and God spared the people (Exodus 32:11–14; Numbers 14:19–20).
- If one vessel refuses, God raises another: “If you hold your peace… deliverance… shall arise to the Jews from another place; but you… shall be destroyed” (Esther 4:14).
- God sometimes permits a lesser path when men resist His higher will (Numbers 22; Psalm 106:15; 1 Samuel 8:7,22), but that does not overturn His ultimate purpose.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Think of two levels. God’s unchangeable purpose cannot be stopped. But your share in that purpose often comes through the door of prayer. If you won’t use the key, the door may not open for you—yet God will still open a door somewhere to complete His plan.
- Prayerlessness doesn’t make God weak; it simply rejects the very means God ordained for you to receive. That’s why Scripture says, “Ask,” and warns that unbelief can limit what God does in a place.
4) Reinforcing Statement
So don’t stand aside and lose your portion. Pray the promise. God will do His will—but He calls you to be the vessel through which it comes.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The God who is rich in mercy
65-0119 §62
Is there another? Stand to your feet and say, "Me, I want to be remembered. God, in your mercy, remember me. I haven't lived like I should. Maybe..." God bless you, lady. God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. That's right. God's rich in his mercy. Have mercy on me. God bless you, sister. Is there... How many more is in here, say, "I'll stand. I want God to know that I want mercy. I haven't lived right. I've lived this way, and that way, and I've been up and down, but I want his mercy."? God bl...
Super Sign
61-0430 §46
"Testify of Me before men, I'll testify of you before my Father and the holy angels." Would there be some more before closing, before we change the service? All right. God bless. God bless them, yes. The ones that raised their hands, yes. God bless you, sir. God be with you, my brother. God bless you, sir, standing up there with the red shirt on. God be with you, yes, and you, too, everywhere you are. God bless you is my prayer. Oh, only believe. All things are possible. Only believe. All right. [Someone speaks in...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 9:E-89
When I think of this eyesalve opening people's eyes, I can't help but recall when I was a little boy in Kentucky. My brother and I slept in the attic on a straw pallet. The cracks in the house would let the drafts blow through. Sometimes in the winter it would get so cold we would wake up in the morning with such colds in our eyes that our eyes would be shut tight with inflammation. We would cry out to mother, and up she would come with some hot coon grease and rub our eyes until the hardened matter was gone, and t...
God has a Provided Way
54-0404E §30
See, longer it went, Abraham figured: "Well, I didn't get it today. I didn't get it this month. I didn't get it last month. But no matter how long it is, the longer it is, the older I'm getting, the more of a miracle it'll be"; give God praise for it. Instead of being weak, like we'd be: prayed for tonight and get healed; said you got worse tomorrow; you say, "Oh, well, there's nothing to it." That's the reason: You can't keep God's Word. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, O Lord!"---David. Hide God's Word away in y...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-129
But to go on. These elect were not only the eternal thoughts of God which were to be expressed in flesh in their due season, but these same elect are called by another name. Romans 4:16. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." Romans 9:7-13, "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall...