Free will and prayer

[velvetsky]

Hi,
If you’re praying for an unbeliever to have their eyes opened to God and you are sincerely praying night and day for them can I trust that God will answer this prayer. You see my priest said about God gives us all free will and it is up to that person if they convert or not but I get so confused with this free will business because I sort of have this image that God is all powerful and if He wants too He can answer prayer in an instant! (I mean, look at St. Paul on the road to Damascus, that was pretty instantaneous!!)

Last weeks homily was all about being persistent in prayer and praying like mad He said God answers prayers…but can’t free will prevent prayers being answered?

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Hi,
If you’re praying for an unbeliever to have their eyes opened to God and you are sincerely praying night and day for them can I trust that God will answer this prayer. You see my priest said about God gives us all free will and it is up to that person if they convert or not but I get so confused with this free will business because I sort of have this image that God is all powerful and if He wants too He can answer prayer in an instant! (I mean, look at St. Paul on the road to Damascus, that was pretty instantaneous!!)

Last weeks homily was all about being persistent in prayer and praying like mad He said God answers prayers…but can’t free will prevent prayers being answered?

I think free will generally overrides prayer requests. If you ask God to convert someone, He may send hints, visitors, texts, circumstances to that person in an effort to get them to consider Him, but they have the will to refuse Him.

I became seriously Christian when I was about 28. But I still remember travelling across Moreton Bay on an old boat called the Mirimar when I was about 13. I was on my way home after a couple of weeks on Stradbroke Island. The first week there was miserable both because the weather was atrocious and my father was present also, and making life miserable for everybody. But as soon as he left, the weather cleared up and the second week was glorious. (Actually every time he tried to go fishing, the weather was always bad. I sometimes wonder if God had a hand in it).

However on the way home, the light seemed to be shooting up through the water with an almost hypnotic effect, and even then I seemed to be getting this sense God was trying to get through to me. But with the return to school life, and other things, I put Him out of my mind.

So I think God was trying to get through to me even then. But it took another 15 years, and several other missed hints and opportunities before I made the decision. And I think a lot of other people do the same thing. Except that some of them are successful rebels to the end, to their own eternal loss.

Paul was an exception. He ended up writing most of the New Testament, excluding the Gospels and a few other books. God had a special purpose in mind for him. But I suspect it took Stephen’s death to start him thinking. He would have seen the angelic look on Stephen’s face, his appeal to the Trinity, and his cry of forgiveness for his enemies. So even if God did answer prayer dramatically in Paul’s case, there was still a high price paid by Stephen.

 

[velvetsky]

Thanks so much for your reply, and it’s beautiful to see how God spoke to your heart so many times until you opened to Him.

 

[tbcrawford]

Hi velvetsky
It is surely hard sometimes for us to understand that we all have free will and God cannot interfere with that!
As we are here to choose the right road or the wrong road in this life,God cannot make someone do something.However,He does answer prayers,they just might not be answered in the way we want or think we want at the time.Our prayers nonetheless are answered according to HIs will.
God sees what is far better for us that we cannot.His Divine Plan for each of us,He knows and we do not.One thing is for sure, God loves us,each one of us, and wants us all to gain eternal life,so this life is about trying our best to follow the right road to get there.

If we are trying to influence someone to know God then our example of prayer,faith,love for our neighbour and attending Mass as often as possible are some of the things we can do.By our example they may ask questions and be influenced by our love of God and want to know Him for themselves.We can pray for their hearts to soften and their minds to be open to Gods will.

Persistent praying is invaluable.I make the sign of the cross every morning then as I am getting ready, running my bath or doing chores driving the car to work at work etc I pray.I pray throughout my day and talk to God also about how sorry I am for my failings and would he help me with … whoever I am praying for at the time.That way I try to dedicate each day to God.
God has answered my prayers so many times and I am so very grateful.He will answer yours my friend it just may not be in the way you were expecting.
Your priest sounds wonderful.God bless you dear friend

 

[JRKH]

Hi,
If you’re praying for an unbeliever to have their eyes opened to God and you are sincerely praying night and day for them can I trust that God will answer this prayer.

Not only can you trust, but you must trust. This is a key component to faith. Another key component is to pray, not just for what we want but, more importantly for what God wants. Look at the Lords prayer. First we ask for God’s will to be done…and then ask for our needs.
God will know whent he time is right to call this person home. Your prayers, and actions toward this person can have significant effect, but the timing must be God’s.

You see my priest said about God gives us all free will and it is up to that person if they convert or not but I get so confused with this free will business because I sort of have this image that God is all powerful and if He wants too He can answer prayer in an instant! (I mean, look at St. Paul on the road to Damascus, that was pretty instantaneous!!)

God is all powerful, but he is also “all respectful”.
As for St Paul, we cannot know what previous intimations God might have given Paul before the “Blinding light” experience. God’s ways are numerous and immutable.

Last weeks homily was all about being persistent in prayer and praying like mad He said God answers prayers…but can’t free will prevent prayers being answered?

Depends on what we are praying for.
Above you are praying for someone to have their eyes opened to God. If his eyes are opened and he chooses to reject God anyway, has the prayer been answered? In such a case, both things are true, the prayer is answered (eyes opened) and free will maintianed (free to reject).

In prayer it is importnatn to recognize that our first task is to align ourselves with the Will of God as we have been taught through Christ. Only in this way can we be said to “ask in the name of Jesus.”

Peace
James

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Hi,
If you’re praying for an unbeliever to have their eyes opened to God and you are sincerely praying night and day for them can I trust that God will answer this prayer. You see my priest said about God gives us all free will and it is up to that person if they convert or not but I get so confused with this free will business because I sort of have this image that God is all powerful and if He wants too He can answer prayer in an instant! (I mean, look at St. Paul on the road to Damascus, that was pretty instantaneous!!)

Last weeks homily was all about being persistent in prayer and praying like mad He said God answers prayers…but can’t free will prevent prayers being answered?

I was never very patient about my prayers. If I can’t get an answer to one, I’ll change it to something I have hope to actually receive. For example, instead of praying about his conversion, I’ll pray that I have the most loving, understanding, and in all ways excellent heart to approach him with. Since I can’t force him to accept, I can choose to accept transformation by the Lord in the areas where I can always improve – for example my ability to be a witness to the Word.

The problem with such prayers is that they may be answered in ways we weren’t expecting; like if I want a pure heart that almost invites testing. I have to be aware of that. What may seem to be stumbling blocks are really purification stations, if we can learn to accept them in that way.

Alan

 

[jtodisco]

Your prayers are never wasted. Even if the one you are praying for does not convert you are still spending time in prayer to God and that is always a good way to spend your time. And every time you pray to the Lord on behalf of this person you are drawing closer to God, so not only are you working for the salvation of this non-believer’s soul, but also the salvation of your own.

As the others have said though, God will not interfere with free will. If God wanted machines that did whatever He wanted without free will He would have created those instead. But the Lord wants us. He wants real love, which means that we must freely give ourselves to Him. But God is not passive about this, He continually approaches us every moment of our lives. He will seek us out like the lost sheep in the parables until we allow Him to place us over His shoulders and take us home.

I know how you may be feeling, it can be frustrating when you care about someone who does not have God in their lives. I have two close friends right now who I have been praying for in the hopes that God will reveal Himself to them and lead them into His Church soon.

But we must not only pray, we must also act when possible. So, to take my situation as an example (since it seems to be similar to yours), I have continued to be a witness to God for my friends. Whenever conversation comes up if I notice an opportunity to connect something being said to God I will take that opportunity. I also try to dismantle some stereotypes and misconceptions they have about Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular. I try to present the information I am giving them in a very rational and unaggressive way, so that they are receptive to it instead of closing down. I never try to actively convert them in the way most people seem to go about proselytizing since I know that would not work, but would actually drive them away. Rather I simply give glimpses of the Lord through these little talks, and more importantly through the way I live my life around them allowing them to see how knowing God has improved my life. Perhaps you could try a similar approach with the person you are trying to convert?

 

[ready]

God heard St. Monica’s persistent prayers for her son St. Augustine and he converted. If she didn’t pray a lot for him maybe he never would have converted. Pray a lot for the conversion of loved ones. Your loved ones souls depend on it! The Blessed Mother in Fatima said that many souls go to hell because nobody prayed for them and offered sacrifices for them. (I think she mentioned the part about sacrifices.) Our prayers really help and can make a difference! They can help a soul escape hell, as the story of Our Lady of Fatima indicates.

 

[velvetsky]

Thankyou so much for all your replies. Your advice is always so helpful. I think I’m grasping the free will thing now too.