Salvation is of God and from God. It is a gift we receive from God because of His grace and mercy. It is a free gift because we never did anything to deserve it. The only contribution to it is our sin, which is required for us to be saved. It is all God’s work; therefore, it is still God’s work for others to be saved.
Heavenly Father, we were Your enemies while we were still sinners. You are not obliged to save us, yet You gave Your Son Jesus to pay for the penalty of our sin. Thank You because You are the One Who worked in my heart to see my sinfulness and my need for Christ, in Whom I can be justified. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How To Pray For People’s Salvation
Why do you need to pray for other people’s salvation?
In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commanded us with the Great Commission to preach the Gospel to the world. Our role in God’s work of bringing people to salvation in Christ is to preach the Gospel to them. As the apostle Paul wondered in Romans 10:14, how will the lost call on Christ, Whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him if they haven’t heard of Him? And how are they to hear if someone does not preach to them? Preaching the Gospel is a means that God has ordained to bring people to Christ. God can do it on His own, knowing that He is all-powerful. However, He chose to include us and use us as His instruments. That is why it is always a privilege to serve God.
However, we don’t stop at the preaching of the Gospel. We also pray for people to know Christ, believe His finished work, and repent. We pray to God because their salvation is God’s work in their lives, specifically the heart. Yes, we may be commanded to preach the Gospel, but in the end, God will still work in their hearts. In Ezekiel 36:26, it is written that God is the One Who turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh. In John 3:3, Jesus also said that no one could see the kingdom of God unless they were born again.
In other words, when a person hears the Gospel being preached to them, God turns their heart of stone into a heart of flesh and causes them to be born again to see Christ and their need for Him. It is where they see the kingdom of God and can enter it. An excellent example of this is the man born blind in the story told in John 9-10. The blind man’s vision was restored not only physically but also spiritually. That is why he could see Christ for Who He was and believe in Him. With all their intellectual prowess and knowledge of the law, the Pharisees failed to see Who Christ was and continued to harden their hearts.
That is why, as the apostle Paul exemplified in Romans 10:1, our heart’s desire and prayer to God should be the salvation of others. The truth that God’s work in their hearts leads to salvation gives us hope and relieves us of the burden of trying to change a person. If a person is so resistant to the Gospel, it is not our responsibility anymore to try to change him or her. It is God’s. Our confidence is that when God’s grace and mercy work in a person’s heart, he or she cannot help but believe the Gospel, repent, and love God. One good example is the apostle Paul, who was once a persecutor of Christians but turned missionary and apostle, all because of God’s work in his life.
Father in heaven, I thank You because no one is too far from Your grace and mercy. If someone like Paul can be born again and become someone zealous for You, I know the same can happen to the people for whom I’m praying to be saved. Work in the hearts of the people to whom I preach the Gospel so that they may repent and believe. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How To Pray For People’s Salvation
How can you pray for other people’s salvation?
How we pray for the salvation of others should be based on the biblical passages we mentioned above, which are Ezekiel 36:26, John 3:3, and John 9-10. As mentioned, salvation is God’s work in a person’s heart. It is where God turns a person’s heart of stone into a heart of flesh, in which they become more receptive to the Gospel because their heart is not hardened anymore. It is also where God causes someone to be born again and opens their spiritual eyes to see Christ and their need for Him, as pointed out in John 3:3 and John 9-10.
Therefore, how you can pray for the salvation of others is by praying that God will turn their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and that He will open their spiritual eyes as they hear the Gospel. Below is an example of this prayer:
Heavenly Father, I pray that You will soften the hearts of my officemates to whom I preached the Gospel yesterday. Turn their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh so that they will be humble and receive the gift of eternal life and forgiveness in Christ. Open their spiritually blinded eyes so that they will see their need for a Savior and that only Christ can save, complete, and satisfy them. I also pray they will see that life is found in Christ alone. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How To Pray For People’s Salvation
Sometimes, people do not believe the Gospel or repent right away. However, making them believe and repent is not our work anymore—it is God’s work in their lives. As we preach the Gospel to people, we partner with the Holy Spirit, Who works in people’s hearts. Some people may repent immediately, and some may take a while. Nonetheless, if God begins to work in a person, surely He will bring that to completion.