3 Things to Do When God Puts Someone on Your Mind
Have you ever had someone randomly come to your mind? Maybe someone that you haven’t seen in years or even thought about? When this happens, it could be the Holy Spirit bringing them to your remembrance.
Have you ever been in prayer or worship and all the sudden you think of someone or see someone’s face? What should you do when this happens? Here are three things to do when God puts someone on your mind:
- Pray for them
- Forgive them
- Contact them
Pray for Them
This is the first thing you should do when God puts a person on your mind. Pray for them! Ask the Lord why He put them on your mind and then believe that He will answer.
The Holy Spirit will lead you in how to pray for them. You can pray in tongues for them. Ask the Holy Spirit to pray through you for that person.
Often as you are praying, the Lord will reveal why you are praying for them. Maybe the enemy has planned to deceive them in some area. Maybe the person needs wisdom to make a difficult decision or healing in their body.
The Holy Spirit intercedes for other believers through us. As you pray in tongues, you allow Him to do this. For more about how this works, read Does the Holy Spirit Pray for Us?
You may feel led to pray for their protection and their well-being. You never know what people are going through behind the scenes. Find scriptures to pray and declare over their lives.
Even people that seem to have it all together face challenges that you might not believe. There is no one on earth that doesn’t need the prayers of other believers.
Even the Apostle Paul needed the prayers of other Christians! I have found at least eight different instances in the New Testament where Paul instructed the readers to pray for him.
Brethren, pray for us. 1 Thessalonians 5:25 NKJV
Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 NKJV
We are instructed to pray for all people. Prayer is powerful because it allows God to intervene in the lives of people.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 1 Timothy 2:1 NKJV
Sometimes God will put someone on your mind that you don’t know personally. Maybe a politician or a leader of a business. Take time to pray for them.
If they are not a believer, pray that the Lord will send workers into their path to bring truth to them. Pray that their eyes would be opened to see the light of the gospel.
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Matthew 9:38 NKJV
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 2 Corinthians 4: 3-4
God desires all men to come to the knowledge of the truth, so you can trust that when you pray for someone’s salvation, you are praying the will of God for them.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4
Praying for those in authority is our responsibility as believers. Our job is not to despise them or curse them with our words. Although we may not agree with their policies, we are still instructed to pray for them.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1 Timothy 2:1-2
What Does the Bible Say About Obeying the Government?
Forgive Them
Sometimes God will put someone on your mind because you need to forgive them. This doesn’t mean you need to call them and remind them of what they did to you. This just means you need to forgive them in your heart. If you’re not sure how to do this, read Is Forgiveness an Emotion?
Even if this is a person you may have forgiven in the past, sometimes we can unknowingly allow bitterness toward them to spring back up in our heart, and the Lord is bringing this to the light.
The enemy is always working to create offense in our heart toward other people. Maybe something happened recently in your life that reminded you of what this person did to you, and you need to go through the act of forgiveness again.
Keeping our heart free from offense, bitterness, and resentment is so important. The Holy Spirit will show you when you need to rid your heart of these things.
Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that what they did was OK, it just means that you are letting it go. This is real forgiveness, completely letting go of the wrong that was done to you.
Forgiveness is not something that is meant to be done in our own human strength. It requires the help of the Holy Spirit, who gives you the power to forgive.
Receiving a revelation of how forgiven you are will release the ability to forgive. For more about this, read How Many Times Will God Forgive You?
Contact Them
Sometimes God will put someone on your mind because He wants you to reach out to them. God can speak to you through your mind. Maybe just to see how they are doing, or maybe to pray for them or give them an encouraging word.
I know of a great minister who today has world-wide influence and is touching millions of lives. He shared a story once of a time in his life when he was extremely discouraged and even told the Lord He was going to quit the ministry.
Right as He was telling the Lord this, he received a phone call from someone he hadn’t heard from in years. This person told Him that the Lord had put him on their mind and was encouraging him not to quit!
This man could have quit the ministry before influencing millions of people, but because someone reached out to him when God led them to, He continued on and today is changing the world.
Sometimes we believe that others aren’t lonely or discouraged, but this is not the case.
If there are times in your life when you feel this way, then others have times when they feel this way too!
If God is leading you to reach out to someone, do it! You never know what kind of difference it could make in their life.
