Can God act without our prayers? Are our prayers necessary, or are they just preferred? Let it never be said that I tried to put limits on God, but I think our prayers are mostly necessary, and that God even set it up that way.
Many years ago I heard a man preaching about "the Earth lease." His supposition was that God had made the Earth and that He still owned it, but that He had given it to man, but that man did not own it. In effect, man has a lease on the Earth.
"Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey." Jesus in Matthew 21:33If you've ever leased an apartment, you know that the owner cannot just come and go as he pleases and disrupt the tenant's life at will. He must be invited to do so. That makes it easy for me to see God as someone who owns the Earth and is responsible for some of the upkeep, but that we, as tenants, also have obligations as to how we treat the property and even what activities take place here. After all, he made US, too!
This is why, when I pray, I often invite God to interfere in my circumstances. And when it involves someone else's will, I ask Him to influence that person. After all, He has not made us to be puppets. He doesn't pull our strings, but He does have influence.
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