There is one thing we are likely to skip when it comes to evangelism and discipleship but which makes all the difference: prayer. Okay, you may be better at it than I, but I have been around enough people to know that we are eager to study the “how” of evangelism but can easily skip praying about the “who.” I used to think of prayer as a nice thing we do before we get down to the real work of evangelism and discipleship. But what if prayer is the most important thing we do?
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4, NIV)
In a pastoral letter to Timothy, Paul places a priority (“first of all”) on prayer for all people. Why? It pleases God who wants all people to be saved! God wants all people to be saved, so we should pray for them.
Sometimes prayer is challenging because we just “don’t feel it.” Prayer that is initiated by a real felt need is easy. We need God to show up in a situation, so we cry out to Him. But when it comes to those separated from our Father, it is easy to grow apathetic in prayer for them. One of the most effective solutions to this is to know personally and care about someone who is apart from God’s family.
“When it comes to those separated from our Father, it is easy to grow apathetic in prayer for them.”
On a very busy Saturday, my family and some friends were visiting the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. At one point, it was just my four-year-old son and I at one of the exhibits. I don’t remember what we were looking at. All I remember is that I let go of holding his hand to do something, and in that instant, he was gone.
There’s a moment that most parents have experienced when one of your children is not in your sight and you just go into action. There is no time for panic. There is no time to make a plan. There is only, “I am going to find my child.” So, I start asking everyone around me if they have seen my son. I tell our friends whom we were with. Then of course I had to tell my wife, “Yeah, honey, I lost our son.” That was fun.
It ended up being only ten minutes at most that we couldn’t find him, but those were the longest ten minutes of my life. We found him in the next room looking at something, oblivious to the fact that he was lost.
When your son is lost, you do everything in your power to find him. While I didn’t pause the search to pray, you had better believe I was praying internally for God to help me find him.
“When your son is lost, you do everything in your power to find him.”
When you know and love someone who is lost, praying for them is easy because you care. We see this kind of care for the lost in Jesus. I love what it says about Jesus in Matthew 9:36:
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36, NIV)
That word compassion in Greek is the word splagchnizomai. It means to be “moved in your inner parts.” No, this is not what happens when you eat Taco Bell too late at night. It’s referencing seeing people you care for and being so moved in your gut that you have to do something to help them. It’s what happened to me when I lost my son. Here in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is being moved by seeing people who were harassed and helpless.
Jesus’ compassion drove him to do something about their situation. But notice what Jesus says we should do about it in the very next verse:
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38, NIV)
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
The response Jesus asks His followers to make in light of people being lost is to pray. Here Jesus makes a very clear invitation to pray for gospel workers to be sent out. Then we see in the very next chapter and verse the disciples being sent out. They prayed for harvest workers to be sent, and they were sent. I don’t think this is an “I gotcha” moment from God. I think it is a result of the disciples praying for mission workers and the lost and then feeling compelled by that compassion.
What about people we don’t know or may never know? God calls us to care not only for our neighbors but also for the nations, for lost people wherever they are found. The incredible gift of praying for the lost around the world is that we can make a difference in spreading the gospel to people living in countries we will never visit and speaking languages we will never speak. You might also find like me that as I have intentionally prayed for neighbors and nations, God eventually made people from those nations I prayed for my actual neighbors.
Evelyn Underhill, paraphrasing St. Teresa of Avila, makes this startling statement that anyone who claims to be united with God but believes this means only “peaceful beatitude” doesn’t understand God. “Such a union, to her mind, involves great sorrow for the sin and pain of the world; a sense of identity not only with God but also with all other souls, and a great longing to redeem and heal.”[1] Let’s pray for all to come home to the Father, those we know and those we don’t know, yet whom God loves.
“Let’s pray for all to come home to the Father, those we know and those we don’t know, yet whom God loves.”
To help guide prayer for the lost, here are 30 Scripture passages we can pray for neighbors and nations who don’t know Jesus.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 – For the gospel to be unhindered.
- Matthew 9:37-38 – For gospel workers to be sent.
- Acts 26:17-18 – For all to have their eyes opened to the gospel.
- Psalm 67:1-2 – For all nations to hear of God’s salvation.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 – For minds to be clear.
- Colossians 4:2-4 – For open doors to the Gospel.
- Romans 10:14-15 – For preachers to be sent.
- Ephesians 4:18 – For hearts to be softened.
- Revelation 7:9 – For every nation, tribe, and people to hear the gospel and respond.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 – For those who are searching to find God.
- 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 – For all to experience the power and wisdom of God.
- Habakkuk 2:14 – For all people everywhere to see God’s glory.
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 – For God to destroy strongholds.
- Ephesians 1:7-8 – For all to experience God’s lavish grace.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 – For all to be reconciled to God.
- Matthew 28:19-20 – To keep disciple making as a priority.
- Romans 10:1 – For our hearts’ desire to be for others’ salvation.
- 1 Timothy 2:1-4 – For our leaders to have wisdom and receive salvation.
- 2 Peter 3:9 – For all to come to repentance.
- Acts 2:37-38 – For all to repent and be baptized.
- Mark 4:20 – For the Word to grow deep roots.
- 1 Chronicles 16:24 – For God’s glory and wonder to be seen all over the world.
- John 1:12 – For all to become children of God.
- Psalm 71:17-18 – For younger generations to hear of God’s power and strength.
- Psalm 135:15-18 – For God to break the hold idols have on people.
- Isaiah 55:11 – For God’s Word to prosper in people’s lives.
- John 17:3 – For all people to truly know Jesus.
- Colossians 1:5-6 – For all to hear about the hope in the Word of truth.
- Hebrews 4:12 – For hearts to be pierced by the Word of God.
- Ephesians 2:8-9 – For all to hear about salvation through faith by grace.
[1] Evelyn Underhill, Concerning the Inner Life with the House of the Soul (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Pub, 1947), 51.
