As stubborn and hard-headed atheists might be in their disbelief in God, evangelist Billy Graham strongly believes that they can still change – but only with God's help and intervention.

"It happens all the time," he writes in his column for The Kansas City Star. "I think, for example, of the countless people who grew up as convinced atheists in Communist Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union, but are now sincere believers in God and are committed followers of Jesus Christ."

However, Graham admits there are many atheists today who "do all they can to erect barriers in their hearts and minds against God." Some are so adverse to the idea of God that they "even want to drive out any mention of God from our public life."

Graham says it's no use arguing with them or trying to reason out with them because their minds are "seemingly closed." He suspects that it's because they want to run their own lives instead of submitting themselves humbly before God.

"But God made us for Himself, and when we leave Him out of our lives an empty place is left in our hearts, and ultimately our lives are meaningless and without hope," Graham writes. "Only God can fill that empty place and give us hope for the future, as former atheists today are discovering. Job said, 'For what hope have the godless when they are cut off?' (Job 27:8)."

For Christians who want their atheist friends to see the light about God, Graham is encouraging them to turn to prayer. "Pray for your friends who claim to be atheists and don't want anything to do with God. Remember: God can do what we never can do, including changing someone's heart and mind," he says.

Christians must also make sure their commitment to Jesus Christ is solid, so they can be a good example of Christ's love and purity to non-believers.