Prayers for Salvation

National Day of Prayer was May 1, which was created in 1952 by Congress and signed into law by President Harry Truman. But this goes way back. In 1775 the first Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln called for such a day.

It is a time to come humbly before God and seek His guidance and grace upon us as a people. We typically pray for our country, for one another, for our leaders, for churches, for families, for issues facing our nation today, and for those needing salvation. My request is that we pray for salvation for individuals who God has put on your heart. Pray that God would make the gospel known to them.  

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NLT) says the following:
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

Don’t you love this passage! Paul is encouraging young Timothy to pray with urgency as he recognizes God’s heart for every person to be saved.

Every one of us knows specific people needing to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. We’re encouraged to intercede and to make requests and to pray for them. We do this from a grateful heart because we know that the same God who saved us wants to save others. God wants all to be saved, which includes all types of people, some well-known but mostly people who are not known.

Here's a silly secular example of this point. For over 60 years, I have been collecting baseball cards, specifically vintage baseball card sets, which means I collect every card made from a particular card manufacturer for a specific year. Currently, I’m completing a 1963 Post Cereal baseball set, which has 200 players. As a set collector, I value all 200 players equally. In fact, the less well-known players are often the most difficult to collect because as a kid, you would focus on collecting Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, or Hank Aaron, not the lesser-known players. Just as God desires all to know Him as Lord and Savior, a set collector desires to obtain every player, or it is not complete.

Recently, our seniors who meet every Sunday morning at RiverLakes Church compiled a list of 170+ names of people they personally know who need salvation. They have committed to praying for them daily. You can do this too!

Ask God to show you at least one specific person in your life who is currently not saved. Lift them up in prayer daily. Remember, Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and James 5:16 says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer.”

God hears the prayers of His children. We know what happens to those who die in their sins, and this prompts us to pray continually for the unsaved to respond to God’s call and join us in heaven!