Let Your Will Be Done

“Does God change the desire of people”? “Does God change hearts”?  I cannot answer that question that easily. There would be more questions, so bear with me as I do my best to answer this as thoroughly as possible.

Matthew 5:37 records the words of Jesus, “Let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes’, and your ‘no’ be ‘no’. Anything more than this is from the evil one”. This does not mean a one word answer will suffice. What this says is that we are to stand our ground, and know why. Know the truth and hold firm. While it may appear that I am indecisive for a moment, please read through and realize that I am standing firm on my answer.

So, does God change the desires of our heart? There is actually a yes and a no answer to that very simple question. The yes or no depends on one factor though, and that is the willingness of the person to allow God to change the desire of one’s heart.

No, God does not intervene or interfere with anyone’s free will. We have the ability to choose, and the character of God will not force anyone to love Him. If a person chooses to reject God, or to disobey God, that person is allowed to do so. This is not to say that consequences will not follow. Just as we cannot force our children to think the way we want them to, God does not force our choices and decisions. He may try to persuade you to do what is right, but He will not force you.

Romans 1:21-31“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened… Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts… Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts… Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy”.

The simple translation is this; the people, even though they knew God chose to live life their own way. God did not step in and force them to behave as they should. God allowed them to live with the consequences of their choices.  

 I Peter 1:14 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance”. We have free will. The choices we make are our own. We may receive encouragement, prompting, or even be outright enlightened, but we still have to choose how to handle the information given.

This is where things get interesting, and possibly confusing. We are told to pray for others. We are told to pray for our leaders. Proverbs 21:1 says“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases”. What? Did I just contradict everything I previously said? Not at all. This proverb is describing the absolute control of God. He is greater than any king or ruler on earth. God can, and does influence people, but they make the final decision in regard to their choices. They can choose to obey God, or reject Him as the Pharaoh did in Egypt. At the end the Pharaoh rejected God, and consequences followed. Ultimately God’s will was accomplished. Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose”.  

Now I have just opened things up to the “yes” side of the equation (if one can claim what I am saying as such). Yes, God does change hearts and desire, but only if we seek the heart of God. God only changes us when we desire to know Him more. It would appear by looking at Saul’s conversion that God forced Him to accept Jesus as the Messiah. God did not force Saul. God did not do anything to interfere with the will of Saul / Paul. Saul was a very devout Jew that loved God. Saul was not slaughtering Christians out of hate, he was executing Jews he thought were committing blasphemy. Saul thought he was serving God, and God simply opened his eyes to the truth as Saul / Paul sought to serve Him. God let Saul know in that he was making a mistake. Saul could have rejected the revelation of Christ. His free will was not removed.

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander…

Mark 7:20-23 “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’”

Here we have a very real testimony and struggle concerning Paul’s sin nature. Romans 7:18-20 “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” Paul is describing the need to restrain sin. There is free will. This is a mature Paul that is serving God and starting churches.

God does change our hearts and desires if we are willing to surrender to Him. The desires of our heart will become the desires of God. Psalm 37:4-6 “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun”.

So, does God change our hearts and desires? Absolutely, but God will never override your free will. The choice to follow God and do great things is your choice. The real question is whether or not we are willing to chase after the heart and will of God.