Praying for the lost
Matthew 9:36-38 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (NIV)
Matthew 9:36-38 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (NIV)
Everyday, most of us find ourselves working besides people who have never heard a proper presentation of the gospel. Others have heard the gospel but are nowhere near to understanding or accepting it.
Do you pray for them?
Psalm 2:8-9 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron sceptre; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” (NIV)
Has it ever occurred to you that prayer is the key that opens the eyes of those that do not know the gospel to the love of Christ?
Most Christian will work all their lives in secular jobs. This should be an advantage. Imagine what would happen if we all started praying consistently for our work colleagues that do not know the Lord.
Have you given up praying for your work colleagues and neighbours? Or maybe you have never started. Some of us are so baffled about how to share the gospel we them that we have given up trying before even starting.
A call to pray for the lost
Now hear a fresh call come out from the throne of God. This is a call to pray for the lost around us. This is a call to pray for those we know. People we work with and have lived with for years. Don’t fret over how to talk to them about Christ but rather concentrate on praying for them.
Pray with the word – practical steps
Below are several promises from the Bible that encourage us to pray for those who do not yet know the Lord.
- First write the names of the people you want to pray for.
- Print out this list and use it to start sowing life into the Kingdom of God. We need to get back to praying for the lost if we are to see souls saved.
- Please take this request seriously. It comes right from the heart of God. It is the least you can do for the Lord. Imagine the joy and excitement you will have when in heaven someone comes up to you and says
” I understand that it was your prayers that were responsible for my being here. “
The following prayer is followed by the scriptural backings. After praying it over the people read the Bible reference that follow. Then allow the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with more specific prayer requests for the people you are praying for.
Prayer:
Lord God, I ask you for the salvation of the above people. You asked us to pray for people that do not yet know you because you love them and want them to join in and become part of the inheritance that Jesus’ death has brought mankind (Psalm 2)
Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for their sin. They no longer need to live their lives without knowledge of God (Matthew 20:28)
Lord Jesus, I know you have broken the hold of sin, the world and ignorance over these people’s hearts and minds. I speak the love and peace of God over their hearts and mind. Allow them to see the light, hope and new life that the gospel brings them. Remove the blindness from their eyes. Lord Jesus, let your grace bring them in contact with people that will expose them to the love of Christ in such a manner that they will accept it. (Colossians 1: 9-14)
Lord God, it is not your will that any should perish. I pray in accordance with your will and Word. Let your will be done in these people’s life. Give me the strength to continue in prayer for them. Lord let your will be done. Let them come to a living knowledge of your love.
Bring them to the point of repentance from their lack of serving you. Bring them into the kingdom of your son. Let them embrace and live in the love of God free from the deception of the world. (1 Timothy 2: 1-6, 1 Peter 3:18)
Lord, let your compassion continue to keep these people from the destruction of evil. Let them not see death before knowing you. However long it might take, your promise never fails. Lord I commit into your hands these people who were created in your image.
They will know you before they see death in Jesus’ name (2 Peter 3:9).
In Jesus name I pray.
Scriptural background
Psalm 2:8-9
Ask of Me, and I will give [You] The nations [for] Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth [for] Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” (NKJV) Matthew 20:28
“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (NKJV)Colossians 1:9-14
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [Him,] being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (NKJV)
1 Timothy 2:1-6
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. 3 For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For [there is] one God and one Mediator between God and men, [the] Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, (NKJV)
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (NKJV)
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (NKJV)
Reference:The Living Word library , Author: Author: Dele Oke
Find the Right ESV Bible for you: