35‘And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
“...nor did it come into my mind...” This sounds like that God can be surprised by our choices. He created us this way. Human choices often determine the course of events. If a congregation splits, it wasn’t God’s will - it came about because of human decisions. Sometimes an innocent person is killed because of decisions that other people made.
How does prayer fit into this? When we pray, we ask God (sometimes) to thwart humans’ ability to choose their own behavior. I know God can do this, but if he does, he is interceding and changing something that he has created. I think that when a person, or people, decide a course of action that it would be rare for God to take away their free will.
3