Praying for lost friends and family is a grim mission. We badly want to see them saved but often find ourselves questioning as to why God takes so long to answer our prayers. I have learnt over the many years of praying for family and friends that it requires vast amounts of endurance, strength, hope, patience, and love.
For many of us that is afraid to take that first step, let me remind you that that first step is PRAYER. The author E. M. Bounds once said, “You can’t rightly talk to men about God until you first talk to God about men.”
This literally means that our efforts to share the gospel must begin with prayer. Don’t give up praying; pray diligently. Our family has been praying for my uncle to be saved since 1999. Last year he accepted Jesus as his Savior and got baptized. It was one of the most happiest days for us as a family. Talk about persistent prayer. It’s easy to get disappointed and give up when we don’t see any visible change of heart but keep praying.
There are some people that intentionally harden their heart against God. Pray earnestly that they would seek to know God. The Bible reminds us that “He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Ac 17:27) God will not hesitate to reveal himself to those who seek intently after him.
Pray for the Lord to open doors for you to speak openly about Christ and the gospel with loved ones. Pray that God will open their eyes when you speak. The Bible says “When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.” (Mt 13:19) Satan will do everything he can to blind unbelievers from the message of the cross.
Use the last few days of this fast to seek God’s face about giving you boldness to pray persistently. HERE is a message from one of my favorite authors, Lee Strobel about praying for unsaved loved ones.
Listen to Justina as she shares from her heart.
Resources:
Download Prayer Guide
Pastor Ashish spoke about the importance of praying first. I strongly suggest that you go listen to it as it gives us the Biblical context of fasting. Let us resolve to always PRAY FIRST in everything we do. Listen to the message HERE
Here is a Worship Playlist you can listen to – 21-Day Fasting Playlist
