How To Pray For The Lost: Praying God

Thursday, 10th April 2008

Praying God's Amazing Love:

According to Psalm 4:3, the Lord hears the godly when they call upon him. When we decide to call upon the Lord for the lost, He hears and answers our prayers (John 15:7, John 16:23-24, James 5:16). Jesus came to save the lost (Matthew 18:11), and God doesn't take pleasure in the death of people who are without Him. By praying for the lost, we are directly praying the will and heart of God. Present the person by name to Jesus Christ as His purchased possession.

Pray that the God will draw this person, convict him/her of their sin, and reveal their need for Christ:

• John 6:44 (NKJV) "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Pray that God will bring circumstances, people, and events into their person's life in order to reveal their need for Christ. Pray that God will use you as an instrument to bring this person to Christ:

• John 17:18: "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world."
• II Corinthians 5:18-20: "He has committed to us the message of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

Pray for opportunities:

• Colossians 4:2-3: "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ..."

Pray that the light and joy of Jesus Christ will shine forth through your life as a testimony of Christian faith:

• Matthew 5:16 (NKJV) "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Pray that God will guide every word and deed so that you will say and do the right thing at the right time:

• Colossians 4:5-6: "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
• Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide you to reach out to the lost one:

• Luke 12:11-12 (NIV) "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
• John 16:8 (NIV) ^"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment..."
• John 14:26-27 (NIV) "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Pray that the person's heart be prepared, so that it will be a "good soil" for the seed (Mark 4:8):

• Mark 4:8 "But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

Pray that Satan not be able to steal the seeds of truth (Mark 4:15):

• Mark 4:15 "And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts."

And that nothing else will be able to destroy the seeds:

• Mark 4:16-19 "These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,  and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

Pray that the Word becomes a revelation through the lifting of the veil:

• 2 Cor. 4:3 "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing..."

Pray against the power of darkness that claims a hold on the person's life so that the person will have the freedom to choose to accept or reject Jesus Christ apart from Satan's interference:

• 2 Cor. 4:4 "...whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
• Ephes. 1:17 "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him..."

Pray that the root of pride may be broken:

• 2 Cor. 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..."

Pray that the person comes to true repentance:

• 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."
• 2 Tim. 2:25-26 "in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."

Filed under: Prayer