How Much Power Do We Have To Change Others?

How many times do you wish you could change someone else—especially when they’ve hurt someone you love? I had that experience recently, and I’m not gonna lie—I was really angry. I found myself trying to pray for this person but my prayers were going in the direction of…

“I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill

I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill

And knocks you in the head like I’d like to

I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls

I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls…”

“I Pray for You” by Jaron and the long road to love.

Yes, seriously—I’m not joking! Well, I knew that kind of vengeful prayer was just going to hit the ceiling so I got down to business with God and instead, prayed something along these lines:

”God, right now I want to do some damage to this person. They hurt my loved one and I’m so angry. I just can’t really pray for their good right now because I want them taught a lesson—like—one they won’t forget. You need to knock them upside the head! I mean, how can You let this happen, anyway??? Can You show me how to change this person so they stop hurting the ones I love?“

God knew my heart was hurting and I believe He honored the request in the last sentence of my prayer because—at that moment—the Holy Spirit intervened and my next prayer was,

“God, okay, I know You must change MY heart before I can pray in a way that will change THEIR heart.”

This prayer released me into a powerful prayer session. How? Well, God released my anger and replaced it with compassion. (This is obviously the supernatural work of His Spirit.)  He gave me a glimpse inside the offender and—I was looking in the mirror. I got to see that person more like God sees me. I was able to sincerely lift up prayer for the soul of the offender—just like others have done for me. In this experience, God taught me a valuable lesson about how to change someone else:

The real power to change someone else often begins with allowing God to change us.

To see others more like Christ, we need to be more like Him. Prayer is one of the vehicles in this journey. The Bible teaches us—when we don’t have the ability to pray for someone—the Holy Spirit intercedes in our prayers! Wowza—it is a remarkable experience. The Bible explains:

“Likewise the Spirit also HELPS in our WEAKNESSES. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

“Now He who SEARCHES the hearts KNOWS what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

“And we know that ALL things work together for GOOD to those who LOVE God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:26-28

My friend, God knows your heart. He knows your weakness and the limitations of this fleshly body. We are surrounded by enemies. But, He is faithful to those who desire to live according to His glorious purpose. When we pray according to His will—even when everything in us wants to pray according to our own way—He WILL intercede and allow us to be part of the great ministry of intercession. What a blessing to be so fully known by God.

God gives us the power to help change other people when we allow Him to first change us!

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