God - can he change us ?

Question

One more question arising from a recent visit by Jehova's Witnesses to me, an atheist. They weren't very good at explaining things, so I have to ask around.
On leaving the lady promised to pray for me so that God would change my mind about believing.
Do Jehova's Witnesses / any Christians believe that it is possible to get God to alter somebody's opinions ? What about free will - I thought the choice was one's own to make, even according to the Bible ? I'm a little disturbed to find that some people feel it's acceptable to get their divinities to intervene in my head without my permission, whether they exist or not.
Please don't go off topic or lecture me - read the question and see if you can answer it. If you can't, don't.

Answer 1

Jehovah God is the Almighty Creator and Universal Sovereign. While Jehovah has given every intelligent creature the gift of free will to pursue a chosen lifecourse, Jehovah has the power to force any person to do any thing that serves His eternal purpose. The Scriptures describe a handful of times this miracle is used to further a specific purpose (also see Exodus 35:34;36:2).

(Nehemiah 7:5) But my God put it into my heart that I should collect together the nobles and the deputy rulers and the people to get themselves enrolled genealogically

(Ezekiel 38:3,4) This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Here I am against you, O Gog... I shall certainly turn you around and put hooks in your jaws [metaphorically] and bring you forth


Regarding householders, Jehovah's Witnesses typically pray that their door-to-door ministry may "find" sincere persons (rather then praying that they may "recruit" persons to become sincere). Witnesses recognize that each individual Christian must be conscientious about his personal ministry, but that the ingathering and separating work is performed primarily by heavenly forces.

(Matthew 9:35-38;13:39) Jesus set out on a tour of all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom ...Then he said to his disciples: “Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” ...The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels.

(Acts 16:13-14) [The apostle Paul] sat down and began speaking to the women that had assembled. And a certain woman named Lydia...was listening, and Jehovah opened her heart wide to pay attention to the things being spoken by Paul.

(Luke 24:44-45) Then [the resurrected Jesus] opened up their minds fully to grasp the meaning of the Scriptures

(1 Corinthians 3:6-9) Neither is he that plants anything nor is he that waters, but God who makes it grow. ...For we are God’s fellow workers.

Answer 2

You do have free will, that is given by God. It's up to you if you accept or reject Him. Do you want to accept Christ as your Saviour?
Of course The Lord will change people's opinions. How do you think Christians start out? We are not born with a belief or faith. That is something that occurs usually after asking lots of questions and realising the Truth. If you are earnestly searching for answers, just keep asking, and ask God to provide the answers. He is amazing and will not let you down. He will give you some answers in a way you would never expect.
May I suggest you have a talk with Christians and hear how they became Christians.
I'm not sure about your 'divinities intervening in your head without your permission'. If you're an atheist, and you don't believe, then surely you can't expect anything to happen/change. But, if you are hoping for answers from The Lord, well just try praying for yourself. You have nothing to lose.

Answer 3

I do believe in free will. I also believe in living with and accepting "God's Will be done". This allows me to accept situations as they happen, good or bad. I can not change that. If I am upset about something it is because I am using my own free will. I think God is always with me, but he can only help me change if I ask for help, guidance, willingness, whatever he thinks I NEED. I am not really any certain religion, I have just become spiritual in the past few years realizing that things are just better if I can just Let it Go and Let God. I don't want to go on too much but I hope it helped.

Answer 4

I don't know if you'll consider this a lecture or not, I'll try to keep it short (but I generally do, so don't worry :D), but I'll answer your question as best I can.

'k, here goes.

God does give you free will and won't just go Zappo and change your mind. But if you are not 100% for sure closed against God and all that, the Holy Spirit can come and be like your ''conscience'' and put questions in your mind (like your conscience) and you'll start thinking about it and you might just change your mind. But I wouldn't just take my answer for sure if I were you, check it out for yourself. This way you have a little better responses. : )

Go the below website & categorize your question however you think it fits (probably Holy Spirit or Other or God the Father).

Answer 5

Hi you are right the lord god has given you a free will, to live the way of the lord, or to live your own way, the word of god the bible has all the instructions on how to live your life in the way of the lord, all the right, and the wrongs. The Lord god does not want robots, but he does want people to be honest and truthful. I am not a Jehovah witness, but in the scriptures we are asked to pray for people.
you say you are an atheist, and you have asked an honest question, if you really want to know the answer, you have the free will to ask the one who can give it. when you are on your own away from every one ask the lord in prayer, you will not know until you try.

Answer 6

It is possible to pray and see God change someone's life, I know that it was the prayers of certain friends that helped me see Jesus. But even once I knew for myself that Jesus is real, I had a choice to reject Him. I chose not to and it's been great. You may have to make the choice yourself one day, you'll know what to do if that happens, in the meantime don't be angry at people who want to pray for you, it's actually a nice thing, but do feel free to explain that you are happy how you are.

Answer 7

God can do anything. But he's not gonna change you to make you somethin ur not, you'd be a different person then. Maybe he could show you something to change ur mind. Or maybe not. Either way, just bear in mind that the grass is pretty green, animals don't look crazy, could all this happen by chance? And why is it you thinkin and not just some machine? I don't care whether you believe or not. It's not about that anyway, it's about if you try ur best to be nice. That's all. Goodbye.

Answer 8

i believe God in all religions plays a role in being able to significantly change a persons views, but i think its alot more to do with it. At the end of the day if it was that simple then why isn't it done so that we all think the same? I think thats where the idea of free will comes in...to see how dedicated u really are and with the guidance provided to really see if we follow the test of life given to us. Its more to do with you changing yourself for the sake of God.

Answer 9

As a catholic I dont believe that God will alter your beliefs, on the most part for the reason you stated, free will. I do beleieve that as a christain I can ask God to have mercy on the soul you don't believe in, without interfering with your beliefs, or attempting to alter your thinking. I don't believe that it is any more an intrusion to pray for you, than it would be for me to wish you good luck. God Bless you. :)

Answer 10

Just my personal experience. SOMETHING caused a change in me, to seek out beyond the very atheistic beliefs I had. If that was God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, or whatever else, I will not go into. I do know that my entire life changed BEFORE I became a Christian. Hope that gives you something... what I don't know... just being honest with a real for life experience... :)