He imparts wisdom to us and speaks truth to us. He knows our needs and our wants and already has a plan to fulfill them. We learn that He loves us and wants what is best for us. Through prayer God reveals His character to us. Prayer may not change God's mind, but it does change our hearts. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:14–15).
"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. Ultimately, Scripture instructs us to pray in God's will. We should pray with the right motives, depending on God alone, and choosing to obey Him (James 4:3 Matthew 7:8 1 John 3:22). So if God has already made up His mind, why should we pray? The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing, in faith in Jesus' name (1 Thessalonians 5:17 Matthew 21:22 John 16:24). First Samuel 15:29 says, "And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that He should have regret." This is not to say that God regretted His decision to destroy them or that He changed His mind, but rather that He was comforted by their repentance and had compassion on them. Scripture uses the word nacham here again. They repent and God "relents" and does not destroy them. Likewise, God sends Jonah to Nineveh to tell the people to repent or He will destroy their city. God does not regret creating humankind, but rather feels sorry that they have fallen into sin. While this word can be translated as regret, it also means to feel sorry, to have compassion, or to be comforted. The Hebrew word for regret used in this context is nacham. For example, in Genesis 6:6 God says He regrets creating man because of their sinful ways.
Some people have questioned the notion that God is unchanging because of examples in Scripture where God seems to regret His actions or change His mind. God does not change His mind because He already knows what is to come (Numbers 23:19 Isaiah 46:9–11). He has known His plans for the world since the beginning of time. In Revelation 22:13 God describes Himself saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." God is omniscient.
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