Praying for the Lost

Read Time: 2 Minutes, 7 Seconds

When we intercede for those who don’t yet know Jesus, our prayers must be rooted in two important truths:

1. It’s God’s will for all people to be saved.

2. No person is beyond God’s reach.

Let’s look at these ideas more closely. God’s perfect will is that all people would be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Tim. 2:4). This is what the Bible tells us, so we must pray with that belief.

We should not pray, “God, if it’s Your will, save so-and-so,” because we already know it’s His will. No person is excluded from God’s will for salvation. Jesus died for all people. Yes, they can choose not to receive the gift of salvation, but if they do, they are outside of His will. His will is always salvation, deliverance, and healing (the full meaning of the Greek word for salvation).

Because of this, we can pray with confidence and declare God’s will for salvation to manifest on earth as it is in heaven in every person’s life.

If we know that God’s will for salvation includes all people, that means no person is too hard or sinful for Jesus. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that where sin abounds, grace abounds so much more (see Rom. 5:20). Think about Saul on the road to Damascus. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more choleric and hard-hearted man.

He thought he was doing the will of God by persecuting and killing the followers of Jesus. He was an impossible case in the natural, but God saw him according to His calling for his life. He knew the man Saul could become—that he would become one of the most influential and powerful leaders of the early Church and would lay down his life for the gospel.

The early believers were people of prayer, and when faced with the persecution of Saul, I believe they prayed, not just for themselves, but also for him. I believe God put it into their hearts to declare His will over Saul’s life, to declare salvation and deliverance for the man who was hunting them down. As a result, the Spirit of God accosted Saul along the road, and he became a changed man. In one moment, Saul became Paul. One encounter with God changed everything.

We need to remember this when we pray for the lost. It is so easy to be discouraged, to see only the impossibility. But no person is too hard for Jesus (see Luke 1:37). We must believe and declare that over the lost. We must pray without growing weary, because all things are possible for those who believe and prevail in prayer (see Mark 9:23). Psalm 2:8 tells us to ask God for the nations. In intercession, we get to partner with His will that all people would be saved—that all His lost and beloved children would come home to His heart.

For more teachings and content from Margie Fleurant on prayer and intercession, follow her on Facebook and Instagram @MargieFleurantMinistries and follow Margie on YouTube for video content, including prayer calls, teaching and events. Check out Margie’s books and other audio content at margiefleurant.org.

Bring Charisma magazine home with a subscription today!