Romans 10:1 (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved
Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Evangelism without intercession is mechanistic, as if evangelism is something we control without God’s help. Intercession without evangelism is unfaithful, because we deny the role God has called each of us to in making disciples of all nations.
If you have friends and family whom you’d like to see become new believers, you can add power to your witness by committing to praying for them as you witness.
Ready to get started? Each of the 12 prayers below ask God to move in the life of the person you’re praying for in a specific way, and they each closely paraphrase a relevant Scripture passage. Just insert the person’s name in the spaces provided and put your heart into each prayer.
Threshold 1 (trust)
1. God, help me build a caring relationship with ______.
Help me become whatever kind of Christ-like servant ______ can identify with so that by all possible means he will be saved. (1 Corinthians 9:22)
2. God, send people into ______ life to witness to her.
Send more believers into ______’s life who will exemplify Christ and cause her to want to know Christ for herself. (Matthew 9:38)
Threshold 2 (curiosity)
3. God, bring me opportunities to witness to ______.
Open doors for proclaiming the mystery of Christ to ______, even in our present difficult circumstances. (Colossians 4:3)
4. God, give me boldness to witness to ______.
Enable me to speak your word to ______ with great boldness. (Acts 4:29)
Threshold 3 (open to change)
5. God, open ______'s spiritual eyes.
Break the blindness on ______’s mind caused by the god of this age. Help him see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
6. God, help ______ realize their spiritual hunger and desire for change in their life.
Break complacency in _____’s mind and help her to want to see change in her life. (John 4:15)
Threshold 4 (seeking)
7. God, make ______’s heart receptive to your Word.
Like the seed that falls on good soil, give ______ a noble and good heart, help him hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:11-15)
8. God, give ______ ears to hear.
Help ______ see with her eyes, hear with her ears, understand with her heart and turn, and you will heal her. (Matthew 13:15)
9. God, set ______ free from spiritual captivity.
Help me gently instruct ______ when he is in opposition to you, in the hope that you will grant him repentance leading him to knowledge of the truth, and that he will come to his senses and escape from the trap of the devil. (2 Timothy 2:25-26)
Threshold 5 (following)
10. God, give ______ faith to believe.
Help ______ make a radical life-change before God and an equally radical trust in her Master Jesus. (Acts 20:21)
11. God, give ______ the will to respond to you.
Bring ______ to the point he declares with his mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believes in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and he will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
12. God, provide an opportunity to invite ______ to a relationship with you.
You want your house full, so give me opportunity and boldness to invite ______ to come home to you. (Luke 14:23)
