All of us know someone in our family or circle of friends who has not been reconciled to God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. God wants to save them and can save them. However, it is also the will of God that we should pray for their salvation. In 1 John 5:16 God directly links the salvation of people and prayer with each other.
Practical Guidelines
1. We should pray for the whole person. Take note of any negative or sinful habits in the person’s life and pray about it.
2. Watch out for sinful, negative and unbiblical behaviour patterns and pray about those. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to their hearts.
3. Ask the Lord to show you who has a negative influence on the person and pray for the breaking of these negative influences and/or the breaking of destructive relationships that draw the person away from Christ.
4. Note which activities have a negative influence on the person’s life – pray that it will be replaced by a positive influence and/or that the negative influence will be made powerless.
5. Determine which influences from the past contribute to his/her present behaviour. Pray for healing, that he/she will be able to forgive, to accept what happened and let it go.
6. Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict the person of specific sins.
7. Pray that the Holy Spirit will put the following questions in the person’s heart and that he/she will look for answers to these questions. These are basic questions about life and it often happens that once people start asking these questions, it leads them to Christ:
– Whom can I trust?
– What is the purpose of my life?
– Where will I go when I die?
– When will I be free?
– Why do I hate God?
– Why do I flee from God?
– How can I handle my problems?
8. Pray for an opportunity to speak to him/her about Jesus or that the Holy Spirit will work in the heart of another believer to speak to him/her about Jesus.
9. From your position of authority in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:19-22) you have to resist any work of the devil that is attacking the person and is working disobedience to God in that person, or is blinding him/her and is planting lies about who God really is, or is hindering the person in any way to come to the Lord. You have to keep on resisting the work of the evil one in the person’s life until there is victory. Bind the works of the devil in the Name of Jesus, rebuke and resist him.
10. Are your motives pure? Why do you pray for the person? Are you praying for him/her in order to make life easier for you in marriage or maybe to enable you to say you brought this person to the Lord and by doing that may get some credit? Alternatively, is it really about that person—for his/her conversion, so that God the Father may be honoured through his/her life?
11. Be sensitive for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Do not dictate to God by telling Him how He should save the person. God knows what He is doing. When you have finished praying, you have to stand back and allow God to work in ways He knows best, even if it might differ from the ways you expected Him to work. Do not try to give God a hand – His omnipotence is sufficient to complete the work.
12. Do not be in a hurry. God’s timing is perfect and He will not be hurried or allow you to prescribe to Him what to do.
13. If the circumstances demand it and the Holy Spirit guides you, you may fast and pray for the person. People often pray half-heartedly with little seriousness and perseverance.
14. Praise God when you pray. When you praise Him, you acknowledge that God is in control, it uplifts your own soul and brings faith to your heart. Praise is also for those times when you are at the end of yourself and when you realise that only God remains.
Portions from Scripture for prayer
GOD’S WILL
Father, Your Word clearly states that it is not Your will that anyone should die, but that all repent of their sin and live. (Ezek.18:23). Your Word teaches us that You are patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. (2 Pet.3:9). You desire that all men shall come to a saving knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim.2:3-4).
GOD’S LOVE
You loved the world so much that You gave Your one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). You demonstrated Your love for us by Christ dying for us, while we were still sinners. (Rom.5:8). Based on this truth, I pray for the salvation of ___________ . I pray that you would bless ____________ with the gift of eternal life. Father, as You raise the dead and give them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He pleases. I pray that You raise _____________ from the dead to life. (John 5:21). Father, draw ____________ to the Lord Jesus, because no one can come to Him unless You draw them. Those whom You have drawn unto Jesus will be raised up on the last day. (John 6:44).
SIN
Father, I pray for ____________’s release from the power and grip of Satan. You have given us the keys of the kingdom of heaven and promised that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. I resist Satan in Your name. He must flee from __________ ; and in Your Name, I loose ___________from all power of the devil. (Matt. 16:19; James 4:7).
Lord Jesus, You gave Your Spirit to the church that He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. Convict ____________ of sin in his/her life. (John 16:8). Your Spirit is the Spirit of truth, (John 14:17) and love. (2 Tim.1:7). May Your Spirit convict ___________ of the truth about himself/herself and the truth about who You are, and give him/her assurance of Your eternal love. Lord Jesus, You sit at the right hand of the Father to intercede for_________ (Rom.8:34). Father, may Your omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient Spirit (Ps.139:7; Isa.40:13; Zech.4:6) work in ___________ every moment. Holy Spirit, I do not really know how to pray for __________, but will You intercede for him/her with Your immeasurable love? Father, may Your Holy Spirit give new life to ___________. (Ezek.36:26). I ask Your Holy Spirit to give him/her wisdom and understanding (Isa.11:2), life (John 6:63) and to be born again. (John 3:3). May Your Spirit of adoption give ____________ the desire to be Your child. (Rom.8:15) Please, give _________ faith. (2 Cor.4:13)
THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID
Jesus Christ, Lamb who was slain for us before the creation of the world (Rev.13:8), You came to save sinners. (Luke 5:32). Please save __________. Through Your death on the cross You paid the full price for his/her sins. (John 19:30)
Lord, You made us to be a kingdom and priests. (Rev.1:6). As Your priest, I intercede for __________. You gave us the ministry of reconciliation and I am now fulfilling that commission by praying for __________ to be reconciled to You. (2Cor.5:18-20). I ask this in Jesus’ name.
Remember, God wants sinners to be saved.
When you pray, take this promise as well as all
the other promises on this issue and pray to God.
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