One point of anxiety for almost every Christian is family, friends and neighbors that do not know Christ. How to reach them with the gospel is the question at hand. The simple answer is to talk to them, but the real work is the sometimes years of prayer, interceding on their behalf.

Effective prayer begins with passion. First is passion for lost souls. Having a desire to see people transformed by the power of God as they submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. After the initial excitement of the cleansed feeling for a new Christian wanes, prayer is necessary for rejuvenation.  Even the desire to see others come to the Lord is prompted by the Holy Spirit. If you do not currently possess this passion, pray that God would light the fire within you. Second is a passion for prayer itself. Without a heartfelt desire to pray, odds are against regular and effective prayer time.

With the passion for souls, praying with emotion and a sense of purpose comes more naturally. As with all prayer time, commitment and follow through is the truly tough part. We all struggle to do what we know we should do and what we know is good to do. It’s not that we don’t want to. It’s just that making the time to do it usually falls prey to the chaos of our busy lives. Determination to pray is something we must have. We need to do it on purpose because it will not happen by accident.

Passion provides the emotion to plead for someone before the throne of God. Sense of purpose causes us to schedule our prayer time to intercede on behalf of others. What remains is knowledge which is where the Word of God comes into play. Prayers from the heart are good to express our deepest desires to God. Praying with knowledge attunes us to the will of God. Praying in harmony with God is much greater than praying our will to God. This knowledge comes from spending time in the Scripture which is where we learn about God, both his character and His will.

We learn from the words of Jesus Christ that the Father draws the lost to the Son.

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:45 “It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”

John 6:65 “And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’”

 

Armed with this knowledge, we can now see how we ought to pray. The proper prayer is to seek grace from the Father, that He would draw the lost to Jesus Christ so they would be able to know the joy of salvation.

 

One of the subtle deceptions in the church today is that the lost are seeking God. The errant teaching of the so called God-shaped hole in our hearts leads one to believe that God completes us somehow. Certainly our spirits are reborn as the Holy Spirit indwells us, but we in no way become part God. The indwelling of God and His power enable us to do His will in submission to Him. The teaching supposedly causes people to want to receive Christ into their hearts. This, along with trying to convince people to accept Christ, as if that action of the will can provide salvation, gives sinners a sense of control of their own destiny. This view that we choose to be saved puts ourselves above God whereas we should be humbled and thankful that God indeed showed mercy upon us by calling us to Himself. Submission to Christ and the will of God is really the key to salvation. Therefore our prayers should be that the Father would provide a humble spirit to the one for whom we are praying and that they would submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:11

THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
         THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

Psalm 14

    ¹The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God "
         They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
         There is no one who does good.     ²The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
         To see if there are any who understand,
         Who seek after God.     ³They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
         There is no one who does good, not even one.

 

So our prayers to the Father are these:

• The Father would send sowers of the Word, even us.
• The Father would send those who would water.
• The Father would soften their hearts and draw them to the Son.
• The Father would send workers for the harvest.
• The Father would cause them to humble themselves before Jesus Christ.
• The Father would cause them to submit to Jesus Christ as Lord.
• The Lord would receive them with grace and mercy so they would know the joy of salvation.

Our only real choice is whether or not we will submit to His Lordship. Our obedience to His call to follow Him leads to salvation. Our desire to maintain control, trying to do it our own way, leads to destruction.