Prayer Evangelism: Pray for the Lost
“I really want to join you on the streets, but I can’t go out sharing the gospel. I’m old and frail; what am I supposed to do for the Lord?” I’ve heard these kinds of questions many times over the years, and often they come from godly Christians who wish they could be doing more for Jesus. I remember one older lady several years ago coming up to me in tears because she couldn’t join our open-air outreaches, yet this lady probably did more to help our evangelism than anyone else. She would pray for us – in fact, she spent hours each day pleading with the Lord to save the lost and strengthen those who shared the good news.
Every Christian can be active in supporting the work of evangelism, even if they can’t leave their homes. One of the most vital and needed aspects of gospel ministry is having people praying for us. If we think about modern warfare, we know that troops on the ground need air support; likewise, those of us who are out proclaiming the good news need the air support of prayer.
R.A. Torrey said, “The most important human factor in effective evangelism is prayer.”
Often in evangelism, we spend most of our time focusing on whether we have read the latest studies, conducted research, and investigated new methods to reach the lost, that we end up forgetting prayer. A person may have a nice car, but if that car doesn’t have any fuel in the tank, it isn’t going anywhere. The same is true for evangelism: we can have the best methods and arguments, but if we don’t have prayer, there will be no movement.
Over the next few weeks, I want to use this blog to share a short series on “Prayer Evangelism.” My desire is that these articles will stir you to pray more.
Pray for the Lost
In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, the Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to pray for all kinds of people. It should go without saying, but prayer evangelism begins by praying for the lost. We know Paul intends Timothy to pray for the conversion of the lost, because in verses 3-4 we are told God wants the lost to be saved.
At this stage of ministry, Timothy was facing hardship; it is believed that due to the trials he was facing, he had become discouraged. Discouragement is cold water to the fire of evangelistic zeal; a depressed and downcast Christian won’t seek to evangelise, so Paul seeks to remedy the problem by calling on Timothy to pray. Before we can speak to the lost about God, we need to speak to God about the lost.
The starting point in all our evangelistic efforts must be prayer. If we want to see our communities reached with the gospel, then we need to ensure we are praying for them. If we want to see the lost saved, then we must ask the Lord to save them!
Scripture makes it clear that salvation is completely of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), so it makes sense that before we share the good news of salvation, we speak to the One who does the saving!
It doesn’t matter if we have the best outreach program, the greatest evangelistic Sunday School, or even the correct understanding of how God saves; if we don’t have prayer, then our efforts are futile.
In our churches, there needs to be regular prayer for the lost. At our prayer meetings, we should be pleading with the Lord to rescue sinners. During the pastoral prayer on the Lord’s Day, our pastors/elders should be calling upon God for the salvation of souls. Throughout the day, as we have our devotional times, we must ask God to rescue the perishing.
A good way to help keep prayer for the lost central is to write a prayer list of all the people you know who aren’t saved. Then throughout the day, ask the Lord to save them. Also, plan to pray for those you meet: your neighbours, co-workers, family – the lost in general.
J.D. Greear asks:
"Here’s a question: If God answered, in one fell swoop, every prayer you prayed last week, would anybody new be in the kingdom?"
That is a challenging question. Are you praying for the lost?
Other tools which will help you pray for the lost include the Joshua Project and Operation World. These resources will give you information to enable you to pray for the nations and unreached people groups. If you have missionaries whom your church supports, then include them on your prayer list. Without leaving your home, you can impact the nations for Jesus!
I know prayer evangelism can be hard, and at times discouraging. You may pray for someone for years, but they still aren’t saved. If that is the case, let me encourage you to keep going. Your prayers are not in vain. God promises to answer in His timing and in His way. It isn’t our job to convert the lost; our job is to pray for them and tell them of Jesus. It is God’s job to save! Pray on with persistence; continue to pray in faith, asking for the Lord to rescue.
I know of one lady who prayed every day for the conversion of her son-in-law. This man told her not to pray as he’d never become a Christian. For years she kept seeking the Lord for the soul of her son-in-law. Today, that man is a follower of Jesus. Keep praying; don’t give up!
We need more prayer for evangelism. Pray for the work of the gospel in your community, your church, and in all nations. If we are going to see gospel advance, then we need more prayer! If we don’t pray, then we cannot expect God to bless our efforts. Salvation is a work of God, so if we labour without prayer, we are declaring we can do the work of saving. Prayer declares we can’t do it, but we rely upon the God who delights in saving sinners.
This week, start to cultivate times where you can pray for the lost.
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