Pray for someone to change

What happens when I pray for a person to change?

It is a kind of prayer that few Christians have grasped. Often, and because of this, many people wonder why things take so long, or sometimes don't happen, or why it takes so much effort if God is supposed to take care of it.

It is one thing to pray for a situation where I am asking God to intervene in my life to teach me, to guide me, or to pray for healing or whatever. But when I pray for a person to change, or pray any other prayer for them, but where someone else's decision is involved, then the prayer is different.

Sometimes we may feel that God is taking care of everything, that He is changing everyone according to our prayers and according to His will. But if things were set up that way, then all we would have to do is pray in faith for our own transformation, or someone else's, and we could see God work powerfully.

But we have to admit that this is mostly not the case at all.

Why is this so?

Because God does not force anyone!

This is a truth that is important to assimilate and especially to take into account.

Each human being has a free choice which has been given to him by God. That is to say, each person is free to obey or not to obey what God asks of him, to decide or not to follow what the Bible recommends. God respects this because it is He who wanted it that way. He proposes, advises, exhorts, but the final choice is up to the person concerned.

God could very well make people obey His words and He would have no problem with that. But He has chosen not to do so because anything that is not the result of a voluntary decision by a human being has no value in the spiritual world. That is why salvation must be the fruit of a voluntary act for example.

So when I pray for the conversion or change of behaviour of a person for example, I will of course be able to use my authority in Christ so that circumstances will show this person that the kingdom of God is real, and that it is by far the best option for them. But I will also prayerfully speak to their spirit so that they receive Gospel truths and can suggest them to their soul.

Paul mentioned this in:

Colossians 2:5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

That is why I can speak to a person in spirit, speaking to them as if they were in front of me.

In the case of a person who is not born again, it is their soul that will receive this thought.

Some may say to me: "But Franck, you are telling us that we can speak in the thought of a person through our spirit, and that this person will therefore receive a thought that corresponds to what we have said in prayer for them?”

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying!

I remember years ago my father had a mentality that was totally against anything that came from God. I saw and heard him for about 20 years making fun of God, or telling me once that occult things were much more powerful than God. For almost 20 years I prayed for my father's conversion without success. Until one day the Holy Spirit showed me that I could use my authority in Jesus by praying and addressing my father in spirit. About two years later my father was the first person to be born again through the TRGN ministry, watching my teaching videos, without me knowing it. Certainly it didn't happen in two days. However, the circumstances of my prayers were radically changed, resulting in a transformed life.

Every time you pray for a person, according to God's will, by addressing them in spirit in your prayer, they will receive a thought in their heart (their thought system) in accordance with your prayer. Does this mean that this person will straight away change his attitude as soon as he receives this thought in his heart?

Not at all!

The thought will be a suggestion, just like when we sometimes have thoughts telling us, for example, "Why don't you do this or that?

And then it is up to the person concerned to accept or not accept that thought.

The more I pray in this sense, the more that person will receive thoughts in accordance with God's will in their heart.

The Holy Spirit does the same thing in our thinking sometimes.

Mark 13:11 But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Acts 20:23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

This is also how the Holy Spirit speaks to us in most cases, through our minds, in our hearts.

We can also ask the Holy Spirit to put people in the path of the person we are praying for to give them good advice to follow.

But in the end, only that person's decision will act as acceptance or not.

That is why God is not going to come and force anyone to act in a certain way in any area of their life. It is up to that person to make the choice.

Some may say to me: "But Franck, if we cannot be sure that the person will accept these thoughts according to God, what is the point of praying?”

In this case, prayer serves precisely to create favourable circumstances so that this person can see the truth and change their mind. But also to be directed by thoughts of suggestions in the spirit, so that they may consider God's best for them.

It is now clear why in this kind of prayer for change in others, it is necessary to pray and pray again, and not just pray once as in the case of casting out a disease or a demon for example. The main element of the success of my prayer will depend on my motivation to activate my faith, and on what the person I am praying for decides to do.

Every time you pray for that person, well, you will create a circumstance that will suggest to them that the truth is in God, in relation to the subject of your prayer. In practice, and concerning our prayer for the conversion of a person, every time you pray with faith, this person will receive in their soul a thought that will suggest to them to turn to God, to consider this or that idea, or will meet a person who will speak to them about God, and many other similar thoughts and circumstances. So we understand why in these prayers we have to pray and pray again and again, because each of my prayers is going to create a circumstance, a favourable thought so that this person will eventually see where the truth is, and act on it.

The same situation will occur, for example, if I pray for a job: a job will be positive or not, by a person's will. So there are many situations where we need to pray over and over again without getting tired of it, so that someone will make a decision to send us back a job offer. Selling something (always in God's will), is another such example.

Some may say, what is God doing in all this?

God by His Spirit will create favourable circumstances, generate thought according to my prayers which must of course be in His will. God by His Spirit may also arrange meetings with selected people. All these circumstances may have links with other people, creating favourable situations. God takes care of all this. We partner with Him by His spirit in these kinds of prayers.

If, therefore, the answer to your prayer, which involves a person's decision, is delayed, there is nothing wrong with that.

Persevere without losing heart. Put this teaching into practice and remember that every time you persevere in prayer, you are giving that person the opportunity to decide to follow what God has planned.

Bye for now...