Difficult Questions: Can We Override Someone's Will With Prayer?
From time to time, we dig into Scripture and seek answers to difficult questions from the Bible. Today, we are asking the question: “Can we override someone’s will with prayer?”
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ Joshua 24:15 (NKJV) emphasis mine
Can our prayers force someone to do something? The answer to that question is no. God created every person as a free moral agent, meaning that each of us has the ability to make choices for ourselves. God gave us a will, and our will is the part of our souls that we use to make our choices. God will not override your will. If He were to do that, He would be violating the right to choose that He gave you. We would not be truly free if we were not able to make our own choices.
The attempt to control and manipulate people is not of God. Occult practices, such as witchcraft, attempt to exert control over the will of another person. To pray in an attempt to make someone do something is not biblical. It is actually very wrong.
However, when we want someone to do something good, such as for someone to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we can ask God to move upon them to influence them to do the right thing. In other words, we can request that God do things to try to convince them to make a good decision. He can draw them to Himself by showing them His goodness and love, by touching them emotionally, and in other ways. And we can decree that anything blinding them to the truth be removed. However, ultimately, the decision is up to that individual, and we cannot force them into it. And neither will God.
We all want our loved ones to do what is right and what is good for them and others. Intercession can help them recognize the best choice to make and can loose the Holy Spirit to try to persuade them to choose what is right. But, ultimately, they have to make their own choices. We must honor that, even if we don’t agree with what they choose. But that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to pray for God to keep drawing them. At some point, they may give in to God’s leading and choose that which He has for them.
