Praying for Those You Love!

Since Jan, 2021- we have covered a lot of topics on this board:

Love,
Worship,
Praise,
Fear,
Salvation

Everything that makes for powerful, successful life in Christ personally and for the church.

Today though, I want us to focus outward- towards those we love who don’t know Christ.

Those who for some reason have never heard the gospel but only know of Christ from sources that criticize and degrade him. Or worse they think they know who he is and think they are serving him but have never obeyed the Gospel, or perhaps they have obeyed the gospel but pain, suffering, the world or discouragement took them from the centre of God’s will to another place…a place they may not know how to come back from.

Today we want to focus on those who may not know the love and compassion of the Lord

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The will of the Lord for each and every person is that they might be saved.

⁸But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

⁹The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

That they might experience Christ for themselves

That they might know him.

We as his children cry out

¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; Philippians 3:10 KJV

I want that same blessing, not just for me for those I love,

For my immediate family

For my extended family

For friends and my community

For those I love and yes, even for those I even hate by times.

If they come within my circle of influence, it is for them that I crave that they might know the real Jesus, the real God of the Bible, not the Christ of the religions… but the Christ of Calvary, who deeply loved them and was willing to die for them who feels everything they go through and aches to hold them and comfort them.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.2 Corinthians 1:3

So we as a church need to use one of the the most powerful weapons we possess, to bring their salvation about.

That power…is the power of prayer!

Praying for the Lord to save, to heal and to restore, praying for those who have backslidden, ‘praying for those who have never known the Lord or felt his love and compassions.

So how do we pray for the those outside the church?

a.) Make sure your own calling and election is sure – obey the Gospel yourself.

b.) Once you have experienced the gospel message that will place you in a right relationship with the Lord to really prayer power prayers.

c.) Create your prayer list

Then…

Pray God’s perfect will be done in their lives – we know it is not God’s will for anyone to perish – so don’t exclude anyone from your prayer list.
Pray for them to be set free from demonic thinking, from Satan’s kingdom, and from the world – or habits and sin that is keeping them bound – war in the Spirit.
Pray fervently – this is serious and not to be taken lightly- if you knew someone was in a burning building and only your prayers could save and deliver them, how would you pray?
Pray with love and great compassion, not out of duty, but out of love seeking what is best for them.
Pray with the conviction, sin destroys its’ victims, Satan wants them to go to hell with him, the world will use them up and spit them out.
Pray whatever it takes- eternity is forever
Pray multiple Biblical blessings on them, for health, for a good marriage, for a good job, for peace in their homes, etc
Pray for them to receive a love for the Lord
Pray for them to receive a love for truth
Pray for them to receive a love for God’s word.
Pray for them to be saved

But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Luke 6:27,28 KJV

And finally put “wheels” on your prayers.

When it is right, when the Lord leads, tell the person you have been praying for them, send a card in the mail saying you have been praying for them, call them, connect with them somehow. Follow the leading of the Spirit.

Since Jan, 2021- we have covered a lot of topics on this board:

Everything that makes for powerful, successful life in Christ personally and for the church.

Today though, I want us to focus outward- towards those we love who don’t know Christ.

Today we want to focus on those who may not know the love and compassion of the Lord

The will of the Lord for each and every person is that they might be saved.

That they might experience Christ for themselves

That they might know him.

We as his children cry out

I want that same blessing, not just for me for those I love,

For my immediate family

For my extended family

For friends and my community

For those I love and yes, even for those I even hate by times.

So we as a church need to use one of the the most powerful weapons we possess, to bring their salvation about.

That power…is the power of prayer!

Praying for the Lord to save, to heal and to restore, praying for those who have backslidden, ‘praying for those who have never known the Lord or felt his love and compassions.

So how do we pray for the those outside the church?

a.) Make sure your own calling and election is sure – obey the Gospel yourself.

b.) Once you have experienced the gospel message that will place you in a right relationship with the Lord to really prayer power prayers.

c.) Create your prayer list

Then…

Pray God’s perfect will be done in their lives – we know it is not God’s will for anyone to perish – so don’t exclude anyone from your prayer list.

Pray for them to be set free from demonic thinking, from Satan’s kingdom, and from the world – or habits and sin that is keeping them bound – war in the Spirit.

Pray fervently – this is serious and not to be taken lightly- if you knew someone was in a burning building and only your prayers could save and deliver them, how would you pray?

Pray with love and great compassion, not out of duty, but out of love seeking what is best for them.

Pray with the conviction, sin destroys its’ victims, Satan wants them to go to hell with him, the world will use them up and spit them out.

Pray whatever it takes- eternity is forever

Pray multiple Biblical blessings on them, for health, for a good marriage, for a good job, for peace in their homes, etc

Pray for them to receive a love for the Lord

Pray for them to receive a love for truth

Pray for them to receive a love for God’s word.

Pray for them to be saved

And finally put “wheels” on your prayers.

When it is right, when the Lord leads, tell the person you have been praying for them, send a card in the mail saying you have been praying for them, call them, connect with them somehow. Follow the leading of the Spirit.

Fight for those you love, fight for them on your knee’s!