How to Pray for Unbelievers

On our prayer sheet, we have a section for unsaved family and friends. There are several names of people we know who are unsaved. We want to see them come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. We want to see them become obedient to the Gospel. How should we pray for them?

• First, we can pray that God will remove the blindness of their hearts. Ephesians 4:18 says that unbelievers' hearts are blinded. 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 pictures this blindness as a veil over their faces that must be removed by the Holy Spirit.
• Second, we can pray that God will open their eyes to understand the Gospel. Jesus told Paul in Acts 26:18 that he was sending Paul "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
• Third, we can pray that God will draw them to himself. In John 6:44, Jesus said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him."
• We can also pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Jesus told his disciples that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit would be to convict the world (John 16:8-11).
• We can pray that God will grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. Paul tells Timothy that God's servant should not be quarrelsome, but should be gentle, "in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth" (2 Tim 2:25).

This is a lot more significant than just praying "Help so-and-so to get saved" but it is also more biblical. We ought to be praying for the salvation of unbelievers.