It depends on context.
First, you need to be sure that God has changed you before you start asking Him to change others. Otherwise, you’d be a hypocrite.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
Is your life any different from when you were a sinner? Are you transformed? If not, what are you waiting for? It has to start with you! Believe in His power of transformation, confess and repent of your sins. Show remorse for what you have done and He will answer and change your heart.
Then, you may consider: “when is it acceptable to pray for God to change others?”
GENERALLY SPEAKING, we ought to pray for all humanity to turn to God:
1 Timothy 2:1–4
“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.”
IN SPECIFIC SITUATIONS, we ought to follow the instructions:
1 John 5:16–17 “If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that DOES NOT lead to death, YOU SHOULD PRAY, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am NOT SAYING YOU SHOULD PRAY for those who commit it. All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.”
➡️ Sin committed by a fellow believer is UNINTENTIONAL (an accident). It won’t lead to death if there’s acknowledgment, remorse and repentance. Prayer is advised because this person had no motivation or plan for wrongdoing; they need (and are open to) understanding, and learn from it.
➡️ Sin committed DELIBERATELY shows a person pre-planned it because they had evil motives, so it’s unlikely they would repent and show remorse. This leads to death. Prayer is not advised because it won’t override someone’s will to do wrong. Those people refuse correction.
Proverbs 17:10 “A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.”
Jeremiah 7:16–21
Judah’s PERSISTENT IDOLATRY
“PRAY NO MORE FOR THESE PEOPLE, Jeremiah. DO NOT WEEP OR PRAY FOR THEM, AND DON’T BEG ME TO HELP THEM, FOR I WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOU. Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods! Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.” This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’
BUT MY PEOPLE WOULD NOT LISTEN TO ME. THEY KEPT DOING WHATEVER THEY WANTED, FOLLOWING THE STUBBORN DESIRES OF THEIR EVIL HEARTS. They went backward instead of forward. From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out. But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors. Tell them all this, but DO NOT EXPECT THEM TO LISTEN. Shout out your warnings, but DO NOT EXPECT THEM TO RESPOND. Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will NOT OBEY the Lord their God and who REFUSE TO BE TAUGHT. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips. Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’”
1 Corinthians 5:12–13
“It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO JUDGE THOSE INSIDE THE CHURCH WHO ARE SINNING. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “YOU MUST REMOVE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOU.”
1 Corinthians 8:12 “And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ.”
James 4:17 “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”