Different Kinds Of Prayer (Part 12)

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Wednesday August 12, 2009

One thing that God definitely wants us to do while we're on this planet is pray for unbelievers. God desires ALL to be saved:

1 Timothy 2:3,4 (NIV)
3. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4. who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

But how should we pray?
There are a few ways the Bible tells us about.
First of all, God has already taken the sin of every person on the earth:

1 John 2:2 (NIV)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

God has already done all He needed to do to get every person on earth saved! The problem is that people aren't receiving His free gift! One main reason people haven't received is because the devil has blinded them:

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

We have authority over satan, but as mentioned in the verse above, he is still the god of this age. The ASV and KJV both call him the "god of this world!"
Did Jesus defeat him by his death and resurrection? Yes, of course He did; but people don't know that, so they fall prey to every arrow he shoots at them. We as believers have the "shield of faith" with which to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one:

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Unbelievers don't have the shield of faith, so we must command satan to take the veil off their eyes so they can "see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ!"

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

After we command satan to remove his veil from an unbeliever's eyes, we need to pray that the unbeliever's own spiritual eyes would be open and enlightened to the hope that is in Christ:

Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Although this prayer is meant for believers, if we can pray that a believer's spiritual eyes be enlightened, then how much more should we pray for an unbeliever's spiritual eyes to be enlightened?

We can also pray that God would bring a believer across the person's path to share the good news of the gospel at the "proper time."

2 Timothy 2:5,6 (NIV)
5. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6. who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time.

If there is a proper time for the testimony of Christ's ransom to be given, then there is also an improper time! We should pray that the person hears the testimony of Christ at the proper time!

I also believe in praying for the right PERSON to give the testimony of Christ to the unbeliever. I know there's some people I have a hard time listening to personally; so an unbeliever might have the same problem and write off the gospel message because of who he heard it from!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for sending Jesus to be a ransom for all men. Help me remember to pray for the unbelievers I know and come in contact with. Thank You for Your Word, that tells me how to live wisely in Your Ways. Help me comprehend Your Word and rightly divide it so I can let You govern my life.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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