When You Want The Truth About God & Hardened Hearts

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When the Bible says God hardened hearts, what is it saying? Does God intentionally prevent some people from knowing, loving, and trusting Him?

Even after all Jesus’ miracles and promises, John wrote…

But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done,
most of the people still did not believe in Him. 

But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah … said,

“The Lord has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts—
so that their eyes cannot see,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and have me heal them.”

John 12:37, 39–40

Like me, I imagine you’ve questioned the meaning of Isaiah’s words quoted here by John.

The Life Application Bible Notes answers the question about God preventing people from believing in Him with a huge NO.

Paul wrote the following to Timothy…

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone.

1 Timothy 2:1–6

How can God want everyone to be saved, yet harden their hearts?

It’s all about freedom. God gives us all the freedom to receive or reject His promises and love. Because we have the freedom to love or reject Him, some may choose to have hardened hearts.

When someone stubbornly refuses to believe the message of and truth about Jesus, God does not force them to change. That’s why Paul’s words to Timothy are so important and why we pray for our loved ones who don’t KNOW, LOVE, and TRUST Jesus.

Who told His followers the following parable:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.”

Luke 15:4–5

Our gracious God will always work in, through, and around us to bring everyone home. He is love and wants everyone to be saved through Jesus.

Don’t give up! Pray fervently and faithfully for your loved one. We never know when our prayers and witness will take root by the power of the Spirit and grow into life-changing faith.

Let’s pray…

A Prayer to Trust Jesus and
Never Have Hardened Hearts

Father God, Your Word warns us about never having hardened hearts, but it also says that You hardened Pharaoh’s heart and the hearts of people who refused to listen to Jesus. And we get confused.

It seems contradictory, yet we know from Your Word that You don’t lie (Hebrews 6:18) or change Your mind (Hebrews 6:7). You promised that You are loving and faithful in all You do.

Please forgive my lack of understanding and, by Your grace, open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to KNOW, LOVE, and TRUST You faithfully forever.

Thank you for giving us Your Living and Active Word and allowing us to KNOW Your character and heart. When I look at these verses in light of the rest of Your Word, I understand that You don’t do the hardening, but You do allow it.

Thank you for these words in Hebrew that help us, “Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7)

You don’t do the hardening, You allow it. If we are determined to reject Your Son and live with hearts and minds full of pride and selfishness, You will let our stubborn will the freedom to have its way.

I humbly ask You to protect us from the enemy’s lies, the world’s confusion, and our own hardened hearts. By Your Spirit, please help me live each day repentant and surrendered. And by Your grace, please work in the lives of my loved ones who have not yet opened their hearts to Your love.

I praise You for working in their lives and mine. Please give them a new heart of flesh filled with love for You. In the name of Jesus, who gave His life to make it possible for everyone’s stony, stubborn heart to be replaced with a tender, responsive heart (Ezekiel 36–26). Amen.

Finally, Jesus said…

“If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the One who sent me. 

I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

John 12:44–45, 47b–50

How great is God’s love and power! May we faithfully thank Him for changing our hearts and giving us the desire to SEEK, KNOW, LOVE, and TRUST Him.

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