Praying for the Lost part 2

Praying for the Lost! Part 2

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. I Timothy 2:1-4 NIV

Principle:  A Prayer Warrior systematically battles in prayer for the salvation of the lost.

The primary purpose in praying for the lost is NOT to convince God to save them for He is “not willing that any should perish” ( 2 Peter 3:9), having sent Christ to die for the sins of the whole world ( 1 John 2:2).  But rather, it has to do with spiritual warfare –freeing them of demonic influence so they can be saved.  Praying Effectively for the Lost – Pg 22.

Probably no other subject touches our hearts as deeply as praying for the salvation for the ones we love.  There is no “secret way of praying” that works every time.  But God, does respond to a constant knocking at his door to “open up” to our request. (The widow asking for justice from an unrighteous king).  The key today is to learn how to improve our knocking to gain boldness in our prayers and move into agreement with God’s purposes for the lost person.

The following steps are taken from Lee Thomas’ book, Praying Effectively for the Lost which can be ordered at www.pelministries.org

1.     Ask God to sanctify the person by name.  The word sanctify means to “set apart”.  It is the beginning work that God does in all of lives regarding salvation.  You are asking God to “turn on the spotlight” for the Holy Spirit to begin his work in their lives.  You are asking God to draw a circle around this person and inviting Him to get inside that circle to begin His work. Pg 16.

“A college student, professing to be an atheist, once wrote to C.S. Lewis explaining that he had fallen in with some Christian students who were vigorously witnessing to him of their faith.  Some of the things they said had unsettled his thinking; he was going through some great struggles.  What did Dr. Lewis think? Lewis wrote back: ‘I think you are already in the meshes of the net – the Holy spirit is after you.  I doubt you will get away” Pg. 16

2.    Ask the Lord to bless them.  It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.  Many times, we want God to show them how bad they are by bring trouble to them.  God’s first desire is always to bless us especially when we are living in ignorance.  “We should especially ask for His very best blessings upon those who whom we pray.” Pg 17.

3.    “We ask the Lord to convict the individual, since conviction is absolutely necessary for salvation.  Only the Holy Spirit can bring someone under conviction, so we would do well to plead John 16:8-11 in our prayers. Conviction basically means to convince of a fault.  The fault or problem of the lost is in “not believing on Jesus” and this the THE SIN of which the Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:9). Pg 17 

a.    I hope you take a moment to understand this last point.  ONLY the Holy Spirit is responsible for conviction.  Many times, we are trying to find the right argument or statement to make the person “understand their need for Jesus”.  But there is a veil of blindness over their eyes.  Ask the Holy Spirit to do what He can and desires to do in that person’s life.  Jesus clearly stated that people condemn themselves when they reject the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

b.    Also, the primary sin is that of UNBELIEF.  All people recognize they have done something wrong in their life.  But they don’t “believe” that God would disqualify them for those actions.  They don’t “believe” that Jesus is the solution to cleanse that sin out of their lives.  They believe there must be another way.  So, in their “disbelief” they reject Jesus offer to come and be healed.

I will finish up Lee’s methods of praying for our lost loved ones in tomorrow’s blog.  Sometimes we want to read to the end so that we can have all of the information, at least, I am like that.  But, I want to encourage you to take a moment and begin this process of praying for your loved one.

Even right now, Ask God to set apart (person’s name).  At this moment, see God drawing a circle around them.  Invite God’s Spirit to come inside that circle.  Then ask Holy Spirit to bless them.  Ask for peace to come into their lives that is different than what the world offers.  Pray for them to gain wisdom in decision making, pray for their physical health, and pray for the “need in their life that they tell you is important to them”.  Then invite Holy Spirit to convict them of the sin of unbelief in Jesus.  Don’t be surprised if the person becomes agitated.  There are stories in which people recognize that your prayers are making a difference in their life.  Some may even ask you to stop praying. 

Father, we are bringing light into the dark domain with all the authority that Jesus gave us.  We are asking You to rescue the perishing that don’t even know they are drowning.  We are standing in the gap.  We are shouting from the wall, “God this person is worth being saved, please do not pass them by”.  Lord we are going to keep knocking, yes, we are going to keep on knocking for You to move and bring salvation to our loved one.  In Jesus name, Amen.