I believe that we always have complete control of our lives. When we begin to think otherwise we are giving away our power and leaving ourselves open to outside influences.All power comes from within and we always have free will to choose which direction our life takes.

We often have experiences in life that we feel we didn't ask for but on some level we have asked for this experience - albeit unconsciously. Nothing comes into our life unless we are a vibrational match to it. When something unwanted comes into your life,it's often beneficial to take a look within and see what belief has caused you to attract this unwanted situation. This means being bluntly honest with yourself and accepting the fact that you did attract or create the situation in your experience.By doing so you now have the awareness to change that belief and not attract a similar situation in the future.

That atheist may have had an unconscious yearning to lead a spiritual life.

Nothing comes "out of the blue"...ever...it's all under your control at some level.

In addition to what Michaela has said, bear in mind that when you are born you are not a blank slate.

Your Broader Perspective / Higher Self / Master Within - whatever you want to call it - is the accumulation of many previous lifetimes of intention and experience.

And, aside, from the intentions/desires that were launched from previous physical incarnations, you also have intentions/desires from your non-physical perspective.

So the Atheist in your example has only labelled him/herself as such for a relatively brief period of this incarnation - it doesn't mean they are not still being influenced by those broader intentions.

In fact, whenever you feel good, that feeling only feels good because you are in alignment with your broader perspective. And feeling good is what everyone is ultimately chasing in life anyway, so how free are you really from yourself? :) ..self meaning that Higher Self.

One other point I'd like to add.

Have you ever in your life met those people who have convinced themselves they are unworthy. I'm sure you must have.

It's like they are always looking up to someone else for what to do in any situation because they lack confidence in their own abilities. They have this air of complete inferiority, self-deprecation and self-rejection about themselves.

And have you never felt drawn into just telling them what to do just to keep them quiet, or perhaps to stop them bothering you?

If you have experienced this sort of thing, you'll know how easy it is for you to eventually end up running their lives for them.

Over time, both of you just drift into playing the roles of controlled and controller that the initial feeling of unworthiness has now manifested into.

It's them doing it to themselves but, to an outsider watching your relationship, it's like they no longer have freewill. It's like some powerful, outside force (you) is completely controlling their every move.

Now instead of considering that unworthy one to be a person, consider it to be a race of beings...the Human Race.

Well, that's pretty much human history for the last few thousand years. :)

The LOA has science at its root. Scientists tell us that everything vibrates at the molecular level. It is true for both inanimate objects and living things. You need a strong enough microscope to see it, but it is happening in everything. The molecular vibration of an object is what is holding that object together. Remember, that which is like unto itself is drawn.

The person you are, at your core, is quietly, silently conveying or emanating desires. At the micro-atomic level, we are told by quantum physicists, our emanating desires, like every physical thing, are actually measurable vibrations toward which similar objects and experiences will be drawn. That can be true because a thought is a physical thing, like that apple in the fruit bowl, or the tree in your yard, or the chair on which you sit. Thoughts are things.

Those vibrational desires are coming to pass in each successive moment. They look like your life experience: your relationships, habits, possessions, accomplishments. If you are self-aware, you can and do change those desires, which, in turn, changes what comes to pass. You can, quite literally, bring about what you think about.

I sometimes observe people treating the Law of Attraction as a spiritual or religious precept, something in which to place faith. That will only confuse you. It is not a doctrine of any religion. Practice your religion without trying to infuse it with the Law of Attraction. Don't try to explain your religion with Law of Attraction. Though the Law of Attraction can be observed in religious experience, it is not a religious idea in and of itself, anymore than the Law of Gravity is. Observe the Law of Attraction in your religious experience, but do not conflate and confuse the two.

The Law of Attraction does not validate doctrine. It only draws to you a person, event or feeling that is similar to that which you give attention of thought.

i would like to believe that potentially we could hold our own against any forces that try to feed on us. Ask the child and he may feel helpless, but as he develops/unfolds more control is gained, emotional, psycho-social, mental, spiritual; do not forget cosmic forces either. so, what level have you attained and if not are you sure you got it all? you're not yet in total control.