Never Stop Praying For Unsaved Family and Friends – Sunday Thought For The day

Have you a friend who claims to be a Christian, who doesn’t go to church; they cannot tell you the day and/or circumstances their salvation took place; they never show interest in the Word of God or the teachings of Christ; they have no interest in going to church albeit they may go at Christmas and maybe at Easter.  They believe singularly in their efforts and yet they claim to pray, almost always, when they go to bed each night.  In brief they do not exhibit one sign that can be associated with being a Christian and they become angry and belligerent when we try to share Christ with them.

Every true Christian knows someone such as I have just described.  The question that begs an answer is how do we witness to such a person?  The answer is we do not, the Holy Spirit does.  We do not rely upon our personal efforts, we rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit.  We also must realize that God gives us freedom of choice to accept or reject Christ as our Savior.

We share our faith; we share testimonies of what Christ has done and is doing in our lives.  We share  how we lived before salvation and how we live as Christians, which means we exhibit the character traits of Christ.  Most of all, we commit ourselves to prayer that their hearts would be softened and they would turn to Christ for salvation.

The most important thing we do, is not to lose faith.  It’s true that Jesus never chased or cajoled people into receiving Him.  However, it’s also true that scripture tells of some who rejected Him at first, later repented and received Him as Savior.

I recall vividly as a teenager the Lord telling me I would be a minister. I had less than no desire to be minister.  My life spiraled far away from becoming a Christian, much less becoming a minister.  There were those who would have believed in little green men before they believed I would be saved much less become a minister.  But two people I’m aware of besides, my mother never stopped believing God would touch my life.  My Uncle who passed away some years ago and a gentleman I worked with many years before, never stopped praying for me to be saved.

A dear friend just had her husband go to be with the Lord.  He rejected the Lord until the literal final days of his life.  Many times during our Sunday morning prayer at church and during our Tuesday evening TDR prayer ministry, we would question out loud what it would take for him to accept Christ before he passed on?  But, we never stopped believing God the Holy Spirit would answer our prayers for him.

God used the gentleman’s stubbornness to encourage others to never stop believing and praying.  The gentleman gave a powerful testimony to God in the hours before he passed; testimony that’s had a profound effect upon others.  His wife has a testimony of ‘keep on believing’ when we’re tempted to think a loved one or friend will never be saved.

A gentleman at our church recently at long last truly gave his life to Christ.  The change in him was immediate.  In the weeks since giving his life to Christ, he’s a changed man in every quantifiable way.  His family life is noticeably improved, guided by a Christian husband and father.

We must never stop trusting, believing and praying, even for those who seem unlikely to ever accept Christ.  Ours is to be faithful in prayer.  Ours is not to determine who will and who won’t accept Christ during this season of grace in these the end times.

READ:
Colossians 1:9-14 KJV
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: