How much is your relationship with Jesus worth? What is it that is so valuable to you that you cannot let go so that you can follow Jesus? Judas chose 30 pieces of silver (Matt 26:15).
The more valuable your relationship with Jesus is to you, the more enthusiastic you will be to share it! The more shocked and amazed you will be when people reject the relationship. And the more you will invest in new ways to communicate the value of this relationship to the people you love.
If you have anything that is more valuable to you than your relationship with Jesus, you will not have the boldness or compassion to share with anyone that has those things!
Sometimes when we are not willing to be shamed, rejected, persecuted, looked down upon or taken advantage of, we may not be willing to stand for the truth and sacrifice which would make it easier to share the gospel.
Is there a price for which I would be willing to trade in my relationship with Jesus? Would I do it for money, health, a spouse, children, fame, promotion etc. My answer is nothing on earth is valuable enough! I know that it easy to say, but I join my faith with Paul to say that nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ! (Rom 8:35-39).
I wish everyone on earth would know the love of Jesus and receive salvation. I know it cost a lot to share the gospel but I am willing to pay the price and I trust you are willing as well.
Share your thoughts! How much are you willing to sacrifice to share this good news with the people?
We are all busy! Running from one meeting to the other or from one task to the other. Being busy does not necessarily mean that you are making the most of your time!
The question I have for you today is this! Are you too busy to spend time with God? Or are you too busy to spend time with the people of God who are lost? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you are TOO BUSY!
All creations of God should always have time or make time for God! If we think our projects, children’s programs, business meetings, educational activities or religious activities are so much that we can’t make time to connect with the people that Jesus died for! Then we have to think again! No one should ever be too busy to stop for the one who is lost. Remember the good Samaritan and all the other neighbors (Luke 10:25-37). Go and do likewise!
What are your best tips for being available for God and your neighbors? Pls share in the comments section below.
What sets you apart? What is it that you have that will make people say I want to know her secret? What did Jesus have on earth? What was His Super Power?
Jesus had all powers and still has all powers! But the summary of it all is Love! Yes that is it! Unconditional Love and Faith in God! Everyone wants to be loved! Respected for who they are. They want to be judged by their intentions and valued!
You will be set apart if you allow Jesus to express His super powers through you! I’m always asking the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through me! And I find that the first step to being used by God is love! When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you are filled with love! You are filled with compassion! You embody all of Jesus! The world around you would wonder why you have so much peace, hope, joy and love!
I remember reading about Smith Wigglesworth when he was still a plumber! One of the rich people he was working for was convicted by the peace and joy that she could feel around him!
What makes you stand out? It is Christ in you!(Col 1:27) Your super power is Jesus in you! He manifests in many ways but the most basic and universal way is love (John 13:35). It is by love that all the people would know that we are the disciples of Jesus!
Jesus wants to work love in and through you and I . So that every one that knows you would wonder how you and other disciples like you can love like that!
Jesus! Please live freely through me! It’s by obedience! I choose to obey your instructions Lord!
Share your thoughts please in the comments section below.
Making disciples is a lifestyle. It is the Jesus lifestyle. There are steps involved in the process. I have discovered that if you take disciple making or outreach as just a program you would greatly reduce your effectiveness!
Accept the call to make disciples
Pray for people all around you (
Meet the needs of the people around you as much as you can. (Matt 10:8)
Make friends genuinely
Present the gospel to each one as soon as the permit you to and you sense that they are genuinely interested.
Continue to build the friendship regardless of their response to the gospel
Continue to pray
Continue to make new friends
Help those that are saved to live like Jesus and love like Jesus
Introduce them to your church family along the way
Encourage them to make friends and make disciples
Continue to meet needs, make friends and make disciples for the rest of your stay on planet earth!
From time to time (many times) our Boss the Holy Spirit would change the script and make things way faster! Go with the flow!
If you want to get better at making disciples, the best place to start is with the BiVo Minister Course.
Have I missed some steps? Join the discussion! Say something in the comments section below!
Why is it so hard to make friends? Being able to make friends is a great skill to have. I am always intrigued by how easy it is for children to make friends. They meet someone at a game console at the airport and before you know it they are playing together. Making friends shouldn’t be so hard!
I think the reason we find it difficult as adults is because we think too much about it.
How does he see me? Would she think I want something? Are they religious? Would they accept me? Will they want to come to visit me every day?
If you love someone, then it doesn’t matter how they respond at first. When they realize that you love them and want the best for them, they would relax a bit!
Recently one of our neighbors knocked on our door to say hello. She said she was wondering what would happen but she knocked all the same and now we are better friends.
It’s true that a few people don’t want to talk but I find that more people want to be loved than you can imagine.
Say hello! Introduce yourself and give your neighbor a complement. That is where it all starts.
Yes it takes time to develop friendships. We have been spending some time with our neighbors. We feel blessed each time we connect because we are exchanging love.
The time you invest into loving someone is never lost. It’s an investment. This investment is not necessarily returned by the person on whom the love was directed. It is multiplied to you by God just like the earth returns seed sown!
Go out and love someone today, tomorrow and everyday! Say hello! Especially to your neighbors with whom you can build a long term relationship. Jesus loves your neighbors and we are His hands and feet. The only way people around us will believe that Jesus loves them is when they feel His love through His disciples.
Do you have an interesting story about saying hello to a stranger or neighbor? Please share in the comments section below!
What is our message as disciples of Jesus? What was the central message of Jesus? What was the central message of the apostles and early disciples?
A study of gospels show that Jesus taught mainly about the Kingdom of God. To further highlight this we learn after His resurrection He spent 40 days with the disciples teaching about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
What about the apostles? What did they teach the most? The Kingdom of God? Yes! They taught about the Kingdom of God and Jesus the way to the Kingdom! (Act 4:2; Acts 5:20, 22; Acts 8:5, 25, 35; Acts 9:20, 22)
So what is your message? It should be the Kingdom of God and Jesus the only way to the Kingdom! In short form our message is Jesus!
But Jesus is a person not a concept or message! Yes! That is why our message should be clear that we are introducing the people to a person who is the Christ! Jesus Is the one who delivers us from our sins (self centered lifestyle).
To those who are lost, we preach Jesus the Saviour! When they receive salvation and forgiveness we teach them to allow Jesus to live in them just like we are learning daily! We also teach that Jesus wants to fill the earth with the glory of God!
How can we fill the earth with the glory of God? By making disciples of all nations! The message of the church is Jesus everywhere!
Remember that the church is the body of Christ. This means that the entire church is Christ Jesus! So when I say what is our message, it also means what is the message of Jesus? It’s is the good news of the Kingdom of God! Jesus is the way!
What are we really called to do as disciples of Jesus? How do you know that you are doing well as a disciple of Jesus? What is heavens bottom line?
Fruit! Yes Fruit! That’s what Jesus says in John 15. If a branch does not bear fruit it is useless (John 15:2).
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8 ESV
What does Jesus mean by fruit? I believe it is Love. The type of love that took Jesus to the cross and brought salvation to humans!
Love that is an outflow of becoming a slave to God who is love. When Jesus lives through us, the outflow of His life is love. This love draws sinners to Him and they are saved!
In other words Fruit is love that produces salvation in people. A good disciple is one that multiplies Jesus every where by making disciples for Jesus.
This love is supernatural. It comes from God. This love is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit.
When was the last time you led someone to Jesus? Are you currently mentoring a disciple of Jesus?
Think about the testimonies we share at church. Think about the prayer points we write or share. What is the priority of the average Christian?
Remember that you can’t impress God with billions of dollars! Nothing you get on earth is worth anything in heaven!
If love that attracts people to Jesus is our priority then how much time do you invest in learning how to love like Jesus! How much time have you invested in loving your neighbors?
As I write this, I am asking God to help me invest more time and resources into what matters most to heaven!
If your life is not attracting other people to Jesus and your are not mentoring any disciples then please do not think that you are doing well. If you have a lot of money and influence and your influence is not attracting people to Jesus then you are building your own kingdom!
What should you do? Change your priority!Make salvation of souls and their discipleship your top priority! Devote time and resources to it! I can help with the first steps! Take the BiVo Minister Course and I will guide you to becoming a regular disciple maker for Jesus! Everyone you meet at work need Jesus! Let me show you how to help them!
Who needs love the most? A nice, good looking person or a rough looking, angry looking person?
Most of us are more attracted to nice looking, kind and smiling people. And we tend to scowl at people who scowl at or are rude to us. My guess is that we are attracted to nice looking and smiling people because we figure that they would love us or they would not hurt us.
However, the truth is that, the people that need love the most are those who look rough, sad or angry. I believe they are feeling down because they are low on true unconditional love.
A lot of people around us are low on love. Even the nice looking, smiling person may be low on love. However, if they are still able to put on a smile, they may still have some type of love to run on.
Unconditional love is a desiring the best for the other without regards to how it benefits you. When we have a lot of this coming our way, we seem to have some of it to give out too.
So if we are ever going to see our world changed, we must load up on unconditional love. This is the king of love that God has for us. God loves you because He is God and He is love. There is no condition for the love of God.
As a disciple of Jesus, load up on love by spending time meditating of God’s love and connect with a mature believer who has practiced loving unconditional love. Then go out and love the people you meet without conditions.
When a person is low on true love, they will be very afraid to accept your love because they cannot be sure that it is without conditions. They may react in anger, push you away or raise up some invisibles fences.
If your love is unconditional, then you will keep loving them. Keep loving them. It may take up to a year or two or even five. Keep loving them. This is what Jesus want’s to do. We are His body on earth.
Of course all true love starts with prayer. Here is a sample prayer I use. Oh Lord please love John Doe through me today. He really needs some of the love you are pouring on me daily. I receive more grace to reflect your love to him. Thank you dear Lord.
Discipleship is simply the process of learning and imbibing the doctrines or philosophies of a specific teacher. In this case, it is the process involved in a person becoming like Jesus.
When I think of discipleship I think of apprenticeship but a lot more. Because as an apprentice, you learn a trade but as a disciple, you imbibe the teacher’s philosophy of life.
Who is a disciple?
A disciple of Jesus is a person who loves people like Jesus and does what Jesus would do.
Do you know that Jesus has put in place a spiritual system to help you access the same power, love, joy, and wisdom with which he operated?
Everything about Christianity is supposed to be about following Jesus and becoming like Jesus.
In a final instruction to the first disciples before Jesus ascended into heaven, Jesus commanded the disciples in Matt 28:18 to make disciples of all nations! They were to do this by baptizing them and teaching them to observe all the commandments of Jesus.
In other words, find people, share the good news with them, if they believe baptize them, and teach them to do all that I commanded you to do. If this is well done, the new disciples will be making disciples.
So you see now that every christian or believer in Jesus is expected to be a disciple of Jesus. And every disciple is called to Make Disciples.
If you would like to learn how to make disciples even as a busy professional, I invite you to take my BiVo Minister Course.
My first experience with discipleship
When I first received Jesus as my saviour and friend, I was so full of joy and I expected everyone to share in my excitement. But this was not the case. A few people were happy that I was happy and others couldn’t care less.
And soon, I found myself wandering away from the Lord and the truth I had received. Although I had begun the journey, I did not have a road map and I was just wandering along.
After a couple of years, I went to highschool and found a group of friends who were growing together in their faith and relationship with Jesus.
They had books, sermon tapes (audio), and they shared these amongst themselves. I was so happy to join this group. It was then that I really learned how to walk with Jesus and live for Him.
You can listen to my podcast interview with one of those high school friends called Dr Joe Omofuma.
What are the major characteristics of true discipleship?
True discipleship should lead the disciple into being like Jesus – A true disciple of Jesus is a person who loves God with everything and loves his or her neighbor as themselves.
Discipleship isn’t just learning some doctrines. It involves changing your previous philosophy of life and imbibing that of the teacher. This process would be different for each individual because our philosophies are also different.
So for us to agree that true discipleship is happening, the discipleship program should include:
Conversion and Baptism
Studies of Scriptures
Learning to hear from and speak with Jesus
Making of other disciples ( Repeating a-c above with other people)
The Cost of Discipleship
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and takeup his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23 NKJV)
Jesus talked a lot about the cost of discipleship (Luke 14:27-29; Matt 16:25-26). As a lead pastor since 2005, I have found over and over again that there is a cost attached to following Jesus.
Jesus never hid the cost. In fact, He made a point of highlighting the cost to the disciples from time to time. I share some of the cost of my discipleship in this podcast (cost of ministry).
Sometimes, we do not want new disciples to know the cost of discipleship.
We feel that if we tell them that “your friends may make fun of you, you may lose your job, family members may not invite you to parties, you may be imprisoned, you may need to go into some dangerous places to find other lost people etc” that they would not want to continue.
What we forget is that when we first surrendered to Jesus, we did not care about all these things. We were too happy to be welcomed into the Kingdom of God to care.
It cost something to follow Jesus. However, it pays much more!!
What is the cost of discipleship? Your life! Discipleship costs your life. You would need to lay down your life and take up Jesus’ life.
The benefit of Discipleship
There are a few more passages in the Bible where Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship such as ( ). However, Jesus talks more about the benefits of discipleship.
What is it? It is the Kingdom of GOD.
When we follow Jesus, we get the Kingdom of God. We get to live the life of Christ. We become children of God. We also get set free from the bondage of sin and the consequences of sin.
As a disciple of Jesus, we really get to live like Jesus on earth. We can live a life that is full of love, joy, peace and the power of God over evil, sin and all the work of the devil.
This life is what is called eternal life. Eternal life starts here on earth and continues for all eternity with God.
Take note that Jesus does not promise us a life without challenges, trials or temptations. What He promises is peace even in the midst of the challenges of life.
In fact, Jesus kept on reminding his followers that the Kingdom of God is so valuable that one would gladly leave all they have so that they can receive the Kingdom.
For the last couple of Saturdays, we have been playing Monopoly as a family. The boys are loving it and we are happy that we get to teach them money and investment in a fun way. Monopoly usually takes a couple of hours, so we take photos of the state of things and continue on the following Saturday.
Why am I sharing this? Well the Lord reminded me recently that receiving the Kingdom of God is like leaving lots of monopoly money and riches, to get real riches in dollars.
Monopoly money is real in the game. It can do a lot in the game but it ends there. The truth, however, is that we live both in the monopoly game (1 hr a week) and in the real world. Anyone of us would gladly lose monopoly money to get real-life dollars.
Riches and fame on earth are like monopoly money. You can afford to lose them to gain real money which is like eternal life. The interesting part is that many times after letting go of your life, so that you can receive eternal life, you actually get a much richer and fulfilling life. You get what you were looking for in the first place.
What does discipleship Involve?
Learning
As a disciple of Jesus, you need to learn all that Jesus commanded. You also need to learn how to how communicate with Jesus. The primary learning material for a disciple is the Bible. It is a good thing for every disciple of Jesus to read through the Bible and have an overview of the redemption story from the creation of the world to the second coming of Jesus.
There are many ways to learn from the Bible. Some of them include, daily personal Bible reading, group Bible studies, reading of christian literature, regular attendance at a weekly worship service etc.
Just learn as much as you can learn and practice everything you learn. There is no use learning if one does not intend on practicing.
I have found in my life that, as soon as you begin to practice what you learn in scriptures, you begin to have opposition. This is why it is important to have a group of other disciples that you are connected with.
Repenting
Repenting is a big part of discipleship because, the Holy Spirit would use scriptures to convict you. You will find many things that you are doing that you shouldn’t be doing. You would also find many things that you should be doing that you aren’t doing.
As a disciple of Jesus and a BiVo Minister, I encourage you to repent as soon as you discover a sin in your life. I remember, when the Lord first started to teach me about unconditional love. I still get some lessons on it till this day.
The Lord would rebuke me a lot for my negative thoughts. When I would feel offended by what someone said or did. I would think something like, this person is wicked and mean. And the Lord would remind me that he or she is like that because they don’t know Him. I would have to say sorry Lord.
Not only would you need to repent for things you do wrong. The Lord would even correct you for things you did and thought were ok earlier in your discipleship process.
I remember the Holy Spirit, leading me to tell my dad that I had misplaced his Bible a few years back. The truth was that I had misplaced my dad’s bible and because I did not want to look foolish and careless, I had pretended to help my dad search for the Bible when he asked me about it. I had to tell my dad the truth.
As you develop your relationship with God, He will purge you of things that would be a problem for you now and in the future. Mine was pride and He has been dealing with it in me.
Reaching out
Every disciple of Jesus is expected to go out and find other disciples. You are expected to tell other people about what Jesus has done for you. Jesus calls us the light of the world. Every disciple should be in the ministry of making disciples.
Are there special people that can help other disciples on their discipleship path? No! All disciples are commissioned to teach as well. You are encouraged to share all you have learned with new disciples. You are also encouraged to introduce them to your church family.
However, it important to mention at this point that we are all called to help other believer grow. Are you currently helping anyone grow?
I hear a lot of believers complain that they don’t have the time. And for any believer that says that, I gently remind them that this is what we are here for. It is a priority. We need to make time for it. It is what Jesus came to do. I talked more about this in my article – Are You a BiVo Minister?
How is your discipleship going?
Remember that we are all disciples of Jesus. We are all being transformed into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. The situations, circumstances, trials, temptations, relationships and victories in our lives are being used daily by our Lord Jesus Christ to mold us.
What are you learning these days? How are you being transformed? True repentance is not usually a bad thing for a disciple of Jesus. As you are being transformed by Jesus, you will find a lot of things that you are doing wrong. Each time you repent and make amends, you step forward.
Lately our Lord Jesus has been challenging us that our church model is not making it as easy to multiply disciples for Him. He has been helping us to focus a lot more on discipleship.
I have had to repent for not doing this earlier. Although we focused on discipleship, many of the members of our church family had never led anyone to Christ, most are not helping anyone become a better disciple. This is not because we did not talk about discipleship, but we did not create a system that would make it easier for any member to make disciples for Jesus.
Are you making disciples?
Have you led someone to Jesus this year or in the last 2 or 3 years? I know that there are some who have never led anyone to Christ since they became a disciple of Jesus.
If this is you, don’t panic. I thank God that you read this blog up to this point. Making disciples for Jesus does not have to be difficult. You can even do it, with a busy schedule.
You can make disciples for Jesus even if you are not a big “people person” or extrovert. Usually, the reason that many disciples of Jesus do not make disciples for Jesus is because of limiting beliefs. If you change those beliefs, and take up biblical ones. You will find that within the next year or two, you will be discipling one, two or 3 people. In some communities you may be making disciples in 6 months.
I have created a video course on Making Disciples as BiVo Minister. It is a free course made possible by my partners. I strongly suggest that you check it out. Take the course today. It would really make a difference in your personal discipleship.
This is the summary of discipleship in the church. Every believer is called as a disciple of Jesus. Every disciple is commissioned to make disciples. And Every disciple is being discipled as long as they are on earth.
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Please let me know your thoughts and comments below. You are blessed.
If you are not used to church or Bible language you may not know what I mean by prayers for lost souls. If you became a disciple of Jesus recently you may not be familiar with the term lost souls.
In simple terms “lost souls” are people who have not received the salvation purchased for them by God through the blood of Jesus on the cross.
When I first thought of this title, I wondered if I should not use a more modern term – “Prayers for the unsaved”. I decided to use this title because I think it would remind us of the truth that anyone who is not saved is lost according to scriptures.
Yes I know that it doesn’t sound as cool as “prayers for the not-yet-saved” or “prayers for those who are yet to find Jesus” or even “prayers for unbelieving people”
My point here is that the Bible refers to anyone who is not a disciple of Jesus as lost. My aim in this blog post is to press this point to your heart, and my own heart as well because I thought about changing the title of this post.
Once we understand that these people are lost, we are already on the way to being properly positioned to pray effective prayers for lost souls. Prayers is always the place to begin the journey of making disciples.
Who are lost souls?
Okay you would not find the phrase lost souls in the Bible. However you may find it in some newer translations of the Bible. I use the New King James Version of the Bible most of the time and I did not find “lost soul” in there.
A phrase that is close to “lost soul” is “lost sheep” (Matthew 10:6). And with this phrase, Jesus referred to Israelites who did not believe in Him. The 12 apostles were to confine their initial ministry to Israelites. And they were instructed by Jesus to preach the message that the Kingdom of heaven is near.
So Jesus was first to call anyone who did not believe in Him or receive the message of the Kingdom as lost.
Jesus also called everyone whom He came to save as “The Lost”. In Luke 19:10.
So now you see that anyone who does not have the new life in Christ Jesus is lost. And Jesus is still seeking and saving them.
If you are reading this, it is because Jesus has found you and saved you. Not only have you been saved, you want to know effective prayers for lost souls, so that they can have and enjoy the blessing you are enjoying in Christ.
Why does Jesus call them lost?
Jesus calls anyone that does not believe in Him lost because God owns us all. Not only does God own us, but he also loves us. When we choose then to live as if God does not exist, or that He doesn’t care, we are truly lost.
There are many other scriptures that show us how terrible it is to be cut off from God. This is why we must pray for the lost souls. And we must encourage other believers to be involved in prayers for lost souls.
Prayers for Lost Souls? Why?
Have you ever been lost? I am not so good with directions so I have gotten lost a few times. When I was about 5 years old I remember getting lost.
I thought I was following my aunt one minute and the next minute (I must have gotten distracted) I did not see her anymore. Then I saw someone that looked like her, and I kept on getting more lost. Eventually she found me.
What is the point of the story? When a person is lost, in most cases, their actions only get them more lost especially when they don’t know that they are lost.
In the case of those who do not believe in Jesus, they are not only lost, they are also spiritually blinded by a wicked enemy – The devil.
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT)
How do I pray for lost souls?
So in praying for the lost, we need to pray to God so that the lost person is saved and at the same time battle against the devil so that the lost person is delivered from the deception of the devil.
There are 4 parties involved in the salvation of any person or soul. In this article, I use the word soul and person interchangeably. Although in scriptures, the word soul has more than one meaning.
The 4 parties involved in the salvation of a person are
The lost person
The Devil
God and the hosts of heaven
The people and circumstances around them (This party contains other lost people and systems and saved people and systems)
For a long time, I figured that if God wanted a person saved, all God had to do was to save him or her. But then I realized that it’s not that simple.
What I have discovered is that God has done all that He can do within the limits of His justice for the salvation of all of us. Although God is all powerful, He willingly laid aside His power, to give us free will. As a result, we get to choose God and love GOD.
This means that for a lost sinner to be saved, he or she has to willingly accept the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
What does this mean?
Well the first thing is this.
God wants whoever you are praying for to be saved more than you can ever want them to be saved (1Timothy 2:1-4)
Now that we have established that God wants the lost soul to be saved, we have great confidence when we come to Him about their salvation. We also know that we have God on our side. Our prayers for lost souls is not to convince God to save the lost. It is to partner with God to save the lost.
So what we need to pray for, is that the lost person would discover that they are lost. That they would know that Jesus is the way and that they would accept Jesus as their savior and Lord.
But for this to happen,
someone has to share the gospel of the kingdom of God with them
the devil’s power over them needs to be broken so that they can realize that the systems of the world only end in the world.
Okay, the stage is now set for us to begin to pray! After all, this article is about the prayers for the lost.
Pray from the Bible for lost Souls
Remember the reason why we pray is not so that we feel that we have prayed. Or to try to convince God to save the lost.
We pray because we want results. We want lost people to be saved.
I know that you want our loved ones to come into the kingdom of God. Which means that you want to be as effective as possible with your prayers.
What prayer can be more effective, than one that is directly from scriptures? Here are some prayers that I and many believers have used over the years to pray for lost souls and have gotten some results.
Thanksgiving Prayers for lost souls
1 Tim 2: 1-6
Sample Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for [ ]. I thank you because you want him to be saved. The blood of Jesus has been shed for [ ]. Thank you for placing [ ] in my life. I thank you that he is alive and still has a chance to receive the Lord Jesus as His savior. Lord, please let things work out so that [ ] would come to the knowledge of the truth about your Kingdom. I pray this in the Name of Jesus.
Mercy Prayers for lost souls
Ephesians 2:1-5
Sample Prayer
Dear Lord, I agree that [ ] is lost. He is dead in trespasses and sins. He does what he wants, without regards to your laws and your love for him. I agree that he deserves the full punishment for his sins, just like I did. Dear Lord, I know that you are rich in mercy, and that your great love towards [ ] is being released right now. I agree that it is your mercy that has kept him alive till this moment. Let your mercy, continue to be extended over [ ] and please let him see how lost he is. Lord show your mercy to [ ], I pray in the name of Jesus. Dear Lord, open the eyes of [ ] to see how much you love her ! In the name of Jesus, I stand against the spirit of the power of the air, that is at work in [John]. I declare, that the blood of Jesus is against you. I break your powers over the life of [_____]. From now on, in the name of Jesus, [John] will no longer walk according to the lust of his flesh and mind. Rather, [ ] would submit to the love and lordship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.text
Prayer for laborers – Ministers of the Gospel
Luke 10:2
Sample Prayer
Heavenly Father, You asked us to pray to you, the Lord of the harvest to send laborers in the harvest of the world. Dear Lord, please send me and other believers into the harvest of [mention your community, city, or individual], to share the good news of your kingdom with them.
Sample Prayer
Dear Lord, Let [ ] there be various opportunities for [ ] to be aware of your love and how lost they are without you. Please use social media, co-workers, literature and other means to bring awareness of their sin and your solution to them. I pray all this in the name of Jesus.
Sample Prayer
Dear Lord, please give me an opportunity to share your love and the gospel of the kingdom with [ ]. And as you give me this opportunity, I receive boldness to share my testimony and the gospel of your Kingdom. Lord, let [ ] understand and accept your mercy and love. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Please take note that it is hypocritical to ask God to send laborers to anyone when we are not willing to be sent by God to that person.
It is true that in a lot of cases, you may not be the right person to share the gospel of the kingdom with them, but nonetheless, you must be willing to be sent by God.
I am learning everyday that our heavenly Father, asks us to pray because He wants us to be engaged with Him in the solutions that He provides.
Warfare against the devil on behalf of the lost
You may have noticed that a major part of our prayers for lost souls would be in the area of warfare against our enemy the devil. This is because the people we are praying for are lost and spiritually dead because of sin and deception of the devil. 2Cor 4:4 (NLT).
Sample Prayer
In the name of Jesus and by the blood of Jesus, I stand against Satan, the god of this world that has blinded the mind of [ ], I demand that you release his mind so that he can understand the gospel of the kingdom of God. I pray in the name of Jesus, that the darkness around their minds would be lifted up and they would be able to see the glorious light of the good news.
Sample Prayer
I pray that [ ] would begin to see sin as God sees it. That they would be disgusted by sin, convicted and seek freedom in the name of Jesus. I pray that the things of God and the words of Christ would have real meaning to them in the name of Jesus.
Sample Prayer
I pray that every seed of the gospel that has been sown into the life of [ ] begins to bear fruit now in the name of Jesus. I pray that these things that seemed to make no sense to them begins to make sense in Jesus Name.
Supplication Prayers for lost souls (Prayer for natural needs of life)
When people who were not following Jesus came to Jesus for miracles, it was a sign that they had some level of faith in Him. Jesus did not turn them away.
I think the same is true today, if we have people around us who do not profess faith in Jesus and they are in need of a solution, we can give them an opportunity to look to Jesus for help.
I usually would use the opportunity to pray for them right there. At other times they may not ask. And you still wonder if to pray for them and how.
The answer is yes! We should also pray for solutions to the problems of the lost. Here are some examples
Sample Prayer
Dear Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that you have mercy on [ ] and bring [ the requested solution] to him or her. Let the situation begin to turn around now Lord. Let them see that you love them and that you have a plan for their lives. I pray in Jesus’ name.
Prayers for lost souls in the spirit
Ephesians 6:18
This may be the most important part of this post because if you are praying from your flesh, it has little or no effect. All prayers must be done in the spirit.
Praying in the Spirit means, praying by the strength and enablement of the Holy Spirit. It could be with your regular language or with an unknown tongue (1 Corinthians 14:13-15).
However, I want to add that, you should pray in tongues. Allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you to pray in tongues for the lost.
For those of you who have the gift of praying in tongues, you already know that while praying for a particular subject, after exhausting your language, the Holy Spirit would draw you to do more praying in tongues.
I encourage you to do a lot more of this. Stay in the place of prayer for as long as you can afford to. In my experience, I have found that after praying in tongues for the lost, I sense a deeper burden to share the gospel. I also sometimes find that I am guided by the Holy Spirit to minister more effectively to the particular individuals or to the lost in general.
How long should I pray for lost souls?
As long as it takes. I don’t think we can stop praying for lost souls. As long as a person is alive, they can still receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. As long as we are alive we can still pray.
Praying for the lost is one of the first steps in making disciples as a BiVo Minister. Before you try to speak to anyone about Jesus, you need to pray for them first.
Compassion for lost souls
If you have read this post up to this point, then I believe you have some compassion for the people out there who do not know how much God loves them. Jesus had great compassion for the lost (Matthew 14:14).
I believe that Jesus spent time praying for the people who were not following Him. He even prayed for those who were used to crucify Him (Luke 23:24).
As a part of my prayers for lost souls, I also ask the Lord to give me more compassion for those who do not know Him. I ask Him to help me to always remember to pray for the lost. As a family, we pray for our neighbors, friends, and family who are not disciples of Jesus daily.
Here is a testimony shared by Charles G Finney, about a woman who had compassion for lost souls and prayed until change came.
The first ray of light that broke in upon the midnight which rested on the churches in Oneida county, in the fall of 1825, was from a woman in feeble health, who, I believe, had never been in a powerful revival. Her soul was exercised about sinners. She was in an agony for the land. She did not know what ailed her, but she kept praying more and more, until it seemed as if her agony would destroy her body. At length she became full of joy, and exclaimed: “God has come! God as come! There is no mistake about it, the work is begun, and is going all over the region.” And sure enough, the work began, and her family were almost all converted, and the work spread all over that part of the country.
Sometimes, its difficult to pray for all the lost souls around us because some of them cause us great harm. They may try to get rid of you at work, they may be mean to you in the community or just evil to everyone.
This is why we must let the Holy Spirit lead us at all times. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts and draws anyone to Jesus (John 16:8, John 6:44). There is no one too far gone for the Holy Spirit to convict. The compassion you and I feel for the lost is God’s invitation for us to join Him in the works of seeking and saving the lost.
Conclusion
I hope that this post has helped you on your journey towards making disciples for Jesus by showing you how to pray for the lost. And providing some starter prayers for lost souls. Please make up your own prayers from scripture and pray until you something happens.
![Dear Lord open the eyes of [] to see how much you love her.](https://i0.wp.com/adesobanjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/open-the-eyes-683x1024.png?resize=342%2C512&ssl=1)
