I want to return to a topic that I had started three entries ago, the topic of what we are specifically asking for when we pray. We have covered healing and peace now I want to turn my attention to salvation.
The Apostle Paul had an eye disease that he called a “messenger from Satan”. In 2 Corinthians it says he prayed “three times” that he would be healed. He received an answer. It was basically “no”. How often or long should you pray for something? When it comes to a person’s salvation, it may take decades. If you love them, you won’t move on.
First, let’s talk about our own salvation. It is common in some circles to encourage a “Sinner’s Prayer” when a person believes a simple presentation of the Gospel. Franklin Graham is frequently on TV sharing such a prayer. The Bible doesn’t have a “Sinner’s Prayer”. It encourages baptism when a person believes. Baptism doesn’t require a theologically sophisticated belief or the immediate purge of every false belief. It requires a recognition of our personal sinfulness, a desire for forgiveness, and a belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus as the cure for our condition. Further clarification and come later. Sinner’s prayers are not a biblical means of grace.
Once we are connected to Jesus through baptism, do we need to pray for our salvation? Our salvation is then a realized goal. There is no need to pray except in thanksgiving. We can and should pray about our preservation in faith. People do fall away. That is documented in the Bible and observable in the world. We are blessed to pray for ongoing deliverance from temptation and false teaching that would undermine God’s grace. We can pray for God to address doubts, fear, and weakness. God responds fast. The Holy Spirit is already on the job. The petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come”, is an exhortation to pray about these things for ourselves, but we can pray that the Kingdom comes to others as well. But what exactly are we asking God to do?
God does not overwhelm our brain and force us to believe. It is also true that human beings, crippled by our sinful nature, cannot believe or choose God by ourselves (1 Corinthians 2:14). What goes on in a person that brings them from death to life? It remains a mystery. It may be that there are intellectual or emotion hurdles that must be resolved? There is likely a love of sin that must be broken. Stubbornness and rebellion could be issues. The Spirit may even have to change elements of the body (like brain structure) or of the person’s spirit. We don’t really know. This battle, if it can be won at all, can take time.
Does prayer even matter? Isn’t the Holy Spirit already on the job? One way prayer definitely matters is that it can sync you up as a resource to God to impact this person’s life. If you are resource through which God can demonstrate love, share the Gospel, respond to questions, or confront fallacies, God can coordinate you with what God is doing through other means. Those means could be other people, changing a person’s circumstances, speaking to their thought process, pushing out evil spiritual influence and the like. You may not be a resource used for the person you are praying for, but God may use you for another person. Through prayer God may send other people into the life of your loved one.
It is long protracted battle. Be available and persistent. You may not even live long enough to see success. The saying, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings”, can be modified to apply to this: “It is not over until Judgment Day.” It will not always be a success, but it is so valuable that we need to stay engaged.
Giving Christ 