Ask the Pastor: How Can I Pray for the Salvation of Those Who Do Not Know Christ?
Ask the Pastor is a regular column at Every Reason to Believe where pastor Reagan Marsh answers a variety of reader questions about ministry, Christianity, the church, and more…all from the perspective of the pulpit. You can find all of his articles here.
How to Pray for the Lost – How Can I Pray for the Salvation of Those Who Do Not Know Christ?
I heard a pastor mention recently that he wants his church to grow in evangelistic prayer. That sounds great, and I’m all for it, and I want to see that for my church too…but I’m not really sure what it means, or how to do it.
I wish more people asked this question! Charles Spurgeon said it so well: “Winners of souls must first be weepers for souls.”
Here are some things I try to pray when I’m not sure what or how to pray for lost people.
1. “I confess my apathy, indifference, forgetfulness, coldness, in evangelism as sin.”
2. “Create in me a burden for people to know Jesus.”
3. “Grow in our church a burden for souls to be reconciled to you, Lord.”
4. “Help me to see people as you see them, Lord.”
5. “Help me to inconvenience myself for souls.”
6. “Give me eyes to see, and a broken heart for, the lostness around me.”
7. “Grow in me a genuine sense of the bitterness, ruin, and sinfulness of sin.”
8. “Grow in me a love for the Cross of Christ and all that it represents.”
9. “Help me to listen and love people ‘where they are.’”
10. “Help me to speak of Christ in tender boldness.” (Rom. 10:17)
11. “Bring people to our church to hear the gospel proclaimed.”
12. “Help our pastor to preach the Bible clearly and to present the gospel plainly.”
13. “Help our church—and me—to weep over souls.”
14 “Give me opportunities to invite people to church.”
15. “Help me to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within me.” (1 Pet. 3:15)
“Charles Spurgeon said it so well: ‘Winners of souls must first be weepers for souls.'”
16. “Impress upon my soul the wonder that Jesus saves his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21)
17. “Cultivate within me a genuine and proper fear of God.” (Ps. 130:3-4)
18. “Teach me what it is that you are holy, holy, holy.” (Is. 6)
19. “Give me opportunities to witness to people.” (Matt. 28:18-20)
20. “Give me spiritual sensitivity to recognize the opportunities to speak of Christ.”
21. “Draw men and women to yourself.” (Jn. 6:44)
22. “Glorify yourself in me as I tell others about Christ.”
23. “Glorify yourself in saving men and women through my obedience in witnessing, and our obedience as a church.”
24. “Do whatever it takes in me—change whatever must change—to make me a vessel for bringing people to Jesus.”
25. “Do whatever it takes—change whatever must change—to make our church shine the light of Christ to our community.”
Reagan Marsh, MATS, MDiv (eq.) is founding pastor-teacher to Reformation Baptist Church of Dalton, GA. A certified biblical counselor, Reagan took MATS and MDiv study at NOBTS and SBTS, and is a ThM candidate at CBTS researching Hercules Collins’s pastoral theology under Tom Nettles. He has served in gospel ministry since 1998 and he writes and contributes to numerous Christian publications.
Image Credit: The Evening Prayer by Pierre Edouard Frère (1857). The Rijksmuseum. SK-A-3081.
Thank you for reading this article about How to Pray for the Lost.