A prayer for God to change another person’s heart

Dear God,

My prayer comes before You in frustration and despair. You know the situation. You know I’ve done what I can to get the log out of my own eye, yet they take no stock for their part in the impasse between us.

They have no interest in justice and they control the present situation, which we find is unjust. You know, Lord. But I do pray You would help me understand all that I still don’t know, God. That would help. It doesn’t seem fair that they manoeuvre justice according to their will.

My prayer is that their heart would be convicted of their wrong. That they would see their contribution to what has eroded our relationship, and destroyed it, for so long now. O Lord, I’m so sick of pretending and they know they’re getting away with it. They have no interest in doing right in this situation, and I truly wonder who else they’ve done this to.

My prayer is they would, for the first time that I’ve seen, live a life of repentance in Christ, who they claim to live for. My prayer is their heart would turn sorrowful for the angst they’ve caused me and many others I know. My prayer is that my wife would see the justice she so patiently waits for. As we have reached forward to them, without them ever reaching back, I pray they would reach forward toward us, seek to understand, and communicate humility enough to convey a genuine apology, and seek our forgiveness. I have forgiven them, Lord, for they are unregenerate in my view, and I’m happy to consider them sinners or tax collectors, but I hanker for justice so the matters can be settled once and for all. I seek no retribution other than acknowledgement of what this has cost us.

My prayer is that You would cause a miracle to occur in their hearts. That the sign of the Spirit, that conviction of sin, would be impressed on them. That they would see the pain they have caused and not be callous and willingly ignorant about it. What they did would almost certainly be unforgivable, Lord, but You know how much worse it is that their response has made it. Yet I would forgive if only they would seek forgiveness backed up by genuine heart change—an outcome that would be good for us all.

But I’m not holding my breath, God. It’s been years now. I often wonder if there’s something I could do to compel them to repent, but of course that’s not how it works, Lord. I know I must speak the truth in love; that it’s Your role—Yours only—to change hearts. You may find them stiff-necked and stubborn, for that’s how it seems to me, Lord. But all I can do is speak the truth kindly. Help me do that, Lord.

But I do pray You would change their heart. And keep changing mine, too, Lord. Keep me open to the sad and bad things I do. Help me be honest, and then through godly grief give me a way back to that salvation experience of Your forgiveness, which may be felt by me afresh, even as it is eternal.

I pray these things all in the name of Jesus—my Lord,

AMEN.

Photo by Mazhar Zandsalimi on Unsplash