Moving Hearts

Ezra 7:27-28
(27) Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,
(28) and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

As American Christians we tend to get caught up in our notion of what "free will" means. We like to think that everything we do is completely independent of any supernatural stimulus. If we become Christians it is because we saw the reasonableness of the proposition and acted accordingly. If someone else does something that benefits us in some way we consider it to be fortunate.

I think the Bible tells a different story than that. This is one example of God working in the heart of a pagan king. I would say that the hardenings in Pharaoh's heart were the same thing, only in the opposite direction. God used the pagans to discipline Israel and He also used their wealth and influence to rebuild the temple.

Keep in mind that all the wealth David and Solomon acquired in the first place was only possible through the Lord's sovereign hand. In the same way, God just as easily restored wealth to the nation through moving in the heart of a pagan king.

The point is that we need to remember that prayer works. We don't change hearts, but God does. Personally, that praying starts with petitions for changes in my own heart.