Are you praying that the people dear to you will turn their hearts to Christ? Years ago, I learned about the effectiveness of praying with words straight from the Bible. During my morning walks I prayed for the neighbors inside each house using the words of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

In the first two verses, we recognize the higher call to submit our battles for change to God. Every time we divert our worries to the Lord, great things happen!

Because even though we live in the world, we don’t make war like the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish fortresses.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NIV

We don’t need to get caught up in thoughts about how we can change people when we can simply turn to God’s Word and raise our petitions to Him. The transfer of our burdens to Almighty God is emotionally and spiritually liberating, and the results are astounding! I especially prayed verse 5 in the hope that others would come to know Jesus in a personal way.

We tear down arguments and all claims that oppose the knowledge of God,

and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

My words sounded something like this:

“I demolish the arguments and all claims that oppose the knowledge of God in the mind and heart of _______________, and I take every one of his thoughts captive to make them obedient to Christ.”

The prayer is simple, but the results are profound. Long after we moved away from the neighborhood of my morning prayers, my friend and next-door neighbor reported the incredible work God was doing in the hearts of the people who still lived on our block.

Let there be no misunderstanding. It is because of God’s loving response to my words from His Word that He set these changes in motion. He is, after all, the One who hears our prayers and promises a divine response. The rest was between Him and every person in my neighborhood.