The author is unable to quote or reference a single Bible verse, yet he purports to teach us about prayer. How can one teach about a biblical doctrine without the Bible? On this basis alone we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
In Genesis 18:20-33 Abraham negotiated with God over the fate of Sodom.
Ex. 32:14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Ps. 90:13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.
Which He did:
Ps. 106:45 for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
Je. 18:7-8 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
Je. 26:3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.
Je. 26:13 Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you.
So why do so many people think God will not change His mind? Probably because of verses like these:
Nu. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?1Sa. 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”
It is interesting that the Bible itself tells us that He does relent yet He does not relent. What are we to make of this? In every case the Hebrew word for "change his mind" is nacham, to be sorry, console oneself.
The nuances are important. When it says God does not change His mind it is in comparison to man. It may be more simple than we have been led to believe, that the way God does things is not like how man does things.
If this is true, let's insert some clarifying language into the Numbers verse:
Nu. 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie (like men do), nor a son of man, that he should change his mind (in the manner of men). Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?
We begin to see the true nature of these statements, that God is not capricious or arbitrary. He is not like men in His ways. They are higher:
Is. 55:9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.