How to Pray for the Lost
Isn’t our God wonderful?
We have tasted and seen that He is good.
We have experienced the overwhelming fullness of joy in His presence.
We can testify that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
One of the hallmarks of a Christ-follower is that we long for others to know Him, too. Especially those we love.
And I sort of think it might just be one of the prayers God loves most to hear and to answer. When we pray for those who don’t know Him yet, we exemplify God’s own heart; the grace of a God who desires that not any should perish amazes me.
Praying for the lost also affirms the delight we experience as God’s children; after all, we only want the very best for those we love, right? How it must touch God’s heart to know that we realize the very best is Him.
My most fervent prayers are those I offer on behalf of my unsaved children, family members, and friends. Perhaps if you are called to pray all night, as we sometimes are, these scripture prayers will be helpful to you. Here are ten Scripture-based prayers I lift often on their behalf:
1.)Pray that the Holy Spirit would convict them of their own sin, and bring awareness of God’s righteousness and their coming judgment apart from salvation. (John 16:8)
2.)Pray that they wouldn’t ignore the truth. (Romans 1:18)
3.)Ask God to rescue them from the kingdom of darkness and bring them to the kingdom of His Son. (Colossians 1:13)
4.)Pray that God would open eyes that are blind to their sin and need for a Savior. (Acts 26:16-18)
5.)Mourn with God that they are separate from Christ, excluded from the family of God, without hope and without God in the world. Then ask that in Christ Jesus those who are far away would be brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13)
6.)Pray that the truth would be united with faith in their hearts. (Hebrews 4:2)
7.)Ask God to lead them toward accepting His gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:23)
8.)Recount back to God that He isn’t willing that any should perish; ask Him to lead them to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4)
9.)Acknowledge that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) Ask that they would confess their sins, claiming God’s promise of forgiveness and cleansing. (I John 1:9)
10.)Pray that the gospel would be unveiled to them. Ask that God would defeat Satan, who has blinded their minds to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Finally, here’s another prayer I offer up often on behalf of all my children — those who have made a profession of faith and those who haven’t. I pray that they’ll never be deceived about the state of their hearts before God. (Matthew 7:21-23) It’s not uncommon for children to profess faith with the best intentions, but without truly understanding the commitment involved. I could let myself become worried and anxious about this possibility; but instead I turn those thoughts into prayers and entrust my children to the One who loves them even more than I do.
Looking for more posts on prayer? Here are a few favorites:
3 Keys to a Powerful Prayer Life
Will You Pray With Us?
Loving God Beyond Our Circumstances
10 Ways to Pray When You Can’t
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Great article, Jennifer! I especially like your comment at the end about praying that people not be deceived about their spiritual condition. I am praying for a couple of people (adults) in my life who claim to be Christians, but the fruit of their lives gives every indication that they are not actually saved. This will be a good thing to add when I pray for them.
Thanks, Michelle! Unfortunately, Jesus said that many people are deceived like this. It’s not an easy thing to talk about — nearly impossible to accomplish without inviting their defensiveness. How wonderful that we can talk to God about it freely, and trust Him to work!
Thank you so much for these! These are all such good verses to pray, I will definitely start adding these to my prayers.
I’m glad you’ve found this helpful, Ronja!
Thank you for this encouraging post. My heart breaks for those who don’t know salvation especially, like you said, those whom we love. Thank you not just for the reminder to pray fervently for them, but how to pray for them.
Hi, Heather! I’m glad this post encouraged you. Reviewing and compiling these Scriptures refreshed my own fervency. Thank you for reading!
Thanks for sharing these great verses for prayer.
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Thank you for including me! 🙂
Thank You Beloved Jennifer,Thank You for the wisdom and your kind encouragement. Just like Our Savior,this was timed just right.God’s Grace to You and Your beloved family.In Jesus Mighty name ,Amen.
Welcome, Kim! I praise our Lord that He brought you to us, and that you found some points of application here. Thank you for taking the time to leave this kind word!
Thank you Jennifer. I have been blessed.
I’m so glad, Karen! Thank you for reading and for getting in touch.
God =gad,gawd is a pagan entities name our Fathers name is Yahuah and his son is Yahusha, pharisees have deliberately hidden the sacred names from the scriptures so that we bow down to a false being.
Yah bless
Hi, Christine! Thanks so much for reading, and for saying hello.
“Yahweh” has many names recorded in Scripture. I worship I AM (Exodus 3:14, John 18:5), Jehovah (Isaiah 42:8), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Word who was made flesh and dwelt among us, who was in the beginning, who was with God and who is God (John 1:1-3, 14). I think God’s use of many names for Himself indicates the vastness of Who He is. We’ll never comprehend Him…never come close to fathoming Him. He is so much more than any word in any language could encompass…so much more than any name could fully convey. Thankfully, He is infinitely greater than I am, and He knows me with complete intimacy. He knows that it’s Him I worship, and that if my use of the title “God” is incorrect, it’s because of the frailty and ignorance of my human flesh, and not because I’m bowing to a false being. Thank you for taking the time to share!
This has been such a blessing to me! Thank you for sharing God bless you always and your ministr!
I’m so glad you were blessed, Bernice! It makes me happy that God brought you a bit of truth here. 🙂
Thank you for sharing these verses and your words here, Jennifer. I do pray for my loved ones who don’t yet know Jesus, but sometimes I don’t know how to or what to say. This is helpful.
I think we all face that struggle, Dawn. Praying for unsaved loved ones is often a years-long endeavor. Those prayers can become pretty rote and routine simply because we pray them for such a long time. Praying God’s Word back to Him is an exciting way to pray, providing great guidance. Plus, it’s a wonderful way to be certain we’re praying in God’s will! I’m glad you found this post beneficial. Thanks so much for saying hello!
I love the reminder to “recount back to God…” My dad would tell us, when we were younger, that it was ok to pray about something, and then to remind God if you hadn’t received an answer. Just as young children remind us as parents that they are *still* waiting for that cup of water, we can remind God that we are still waiting on an answer to prayer – especially when it comes to salvation. Thank you for sharing this!
So true, Becky! It reminds me of the widow in Luke 18, whose request was finally granted because she just kept coming. I’m not sure I understand why God invites us to interact with Him in this way; it almost seems like nagging to my fleshly perspective! But I’m thankful that He invites it nonetheless; it’s a tangible way we can show Him that we’re waiting on Him in faith, expectant of an answer.
the pastor asked that we make a list of 10 people, that need Jesus. I have my 10 and i will report back as I see God’s calling on their lives
Amen, Sherry! Thank you for encouraging us by sharing with us how you’re praying for unsaved loved ones. I look forward to hearing back from you as those prayers are answered.
I believe that God wants us to pray his word back to him because it’s brings us closer and closer to him. For him to keep us focused on him because we could get side tracked and discouraged. I can testify for my own life he will reveal something to you pertaining that person as your praying for them. I was praying and worshipping God on a Wednesday night service and I saw when I closed my eyes my mother and older sister standing by the river of life in heaven. Well immediately I saw my mom kneeling down take a drink but my older sister was hesitant. Then opened my eyes and wept they were standing right next to me and I told them I saw yall and I explained. Well that vision God gave me happened my mother gave her life over to Christ but my sister hasn’t yet but I know it’s going to. So hope this really builds up y’all faith!! And reveals the reality of heaven!!
The Lord showed me to bind up the mind blinding spirits, to pray labourers across our loved ones pathways , and God would see to it that they would get saved, we have promises that declare, for ex acts 16,31 says you and your household will be saved, also if A Canaanite harlots faith can protect family and goods, how much more can a New Testament believers faith in the power of the blood of the risen redeemer protect loved ones and possessions. If we cannot draw a bloodline around our loved ones and property in this hour of peril, then we do not have a better covenant based on better promises.. But we do! If we are faithful to stand in the gap and believe for all of our loved ones, then they will all come in eventually, Gods word will not return void…God wants us to stand and not to be moved by what we see, but be moved by what His promises say and speak them out and we will see the fruit. Amen
Thanks for sharing. As a mother with young kids I am always eager top learn from people like you, who have true godly testimonies and experience.