Have an Unsaved Loved One?

We all want our loved ones to be saved. We want them to live in God's blessings during their time here on earth, and we especially want them to spend eternity in heaven!

The saving part is God's, but there is surely a part we can play -- we can pray for them.

They Must Be Born Again

Remember, we pray for saved people differently than we pray for those who aren't saved yet.

There's no use praying for, or expecting, an unsaved person to live right or understand spiritual things -- they have no capacity for that yet, they have a sin nature (Romans 3:23). Their greatest need is to be saved, to become a brand new creature inside (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3).

A person becomes born again by asking Jesus to be their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9, 10). Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me" and "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 14:6, 10:9).

Aren't you glad He showed us the way to eternal life?! It's not a hidden secret -- it's available to anyone who asks!

How To Pray

So what is the scriptural way to pray for someone to be saved?

We don't pray, "Oh God, please save them!" Worrying, fretting, or begging is not how anyone gets saved. In fact, it's doubt. God already sent Jesus, who bought and paid for every person's salvation. He's already done everything He's going to do to save someone -- and He wants everyone to be saved! (1 Timothy 2:4). It's up to each person to receive it. And if anyone heard the truth about Jesus and salvation, they would want Him.

So what keeps them from receiving? Second Cor. 4:4 says the god of this world (the devil) has "blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."

So the first thing I do when praying for the unsaved is to bind the devil off their mind.

You see, the unsaved don't know their minds are spiritually blinded, and even if they did, they don't have authority to do anything about it. But you and I know, and we have the authority to bind that blindness in Jesus' Name! (Luke 10:19).

So I pray, "In Jesus' Name, devil I bind you off the mind of So-and-So. Go! Now I declare that the light of the gospel is shining on them. It's shining, it's shining, it's shining.!"

That means, no matter what it looks like, no matter how they're acting, I keep believing that the light is shining. This enables me to stop worrying about them and keep my faith extended toward them, staying in agreement with God's Word on it.

I continue to believe that every time the gospel goes by them, it no longer falls on a blinded mind -- it shines. They see it, they hear it, like they couldn't before. And it's working in their hearts and minds, because it doesn't return void (Is. 55:11).

Send Someone

Next, I do what Luke 10:2 says -- I ask God to send laborers across their path. "Father, send people they'll listen to. Every day, all day."

Now when I or someone else talks to them about Jesus -- or they channel surf by a preacher, or see a billboard or read a tract -- they'll be able to see and hear the truth about Jesus that can make them free!

This is the Bible way to believe for the unsaved -- both for your loved ones and for others. It works! As you pray in faith, agreeing with God's Word about salvation, you'll see more and more people come to the Lord!