Praying for Our Loved Ones — E.A. Johnston

The Call to Persistent Prayer for Loved Ones

I had a dear friend, who is now in glory, who taught me a principle of prayer. The friend was Marion Price, who was used of God to lead Osborne Bounds, the son of E .M. Bounds, to the Lord back in 1976, when Osborne Bounds was 84 years old.

Marion wrote a book about that experience entitled, Never Quit Praying for Your Loved Ones. Through the years, Marion and I often would pray together for the salvation of our own children. I want to give you today, friends, some principles on how to pray for your own loved ones.

There is a verse in scripture, in the book of Isaiah, which I believe can help us today to understand how to pray more effectively for our unsaved loved ones. Friends, turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah.

We will be in chapter 44, and in verse 3. Hear now, is the word of God, and may the spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.

And I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. Here in our text, we see three things mentioned. There is a condition, a covenant, a conversion. The condition applies to the individual who has a need.

Spiritual Thirst and Desperate Intercession

The person is described as one who is thirsty. This person longs for a thing, like a heart would pant after the water brooks. There is a thirst for something. Let me ask you, friend, do you long to see your loved ones saved?

Is it such a deep longing that it disturbs you, draws you into a deeper knowledge of God himself? Do you spend time out of bed and on your face in sacrificial prayer that would fall into the category of desperate intercessory prayer?

Do you ask other believers whom you know to join with you in prayer for the salvation of your loved ones? In other words, is there a distinction here? I believe there is a distinction here that God is making between the person who does not feel their need and one who does.

I'll be honest with you, friends, I don't believe God hears our prayers for our unsaved loved ones if we pray carelessly or casually. God is speaking about feeling a need here in someone who fits the description of one who is thirsty.

Are you thirsty, so to speak, to see your unsaved loved ones brought savingly to Christ Jesus? I believe the very first step in this process of prayer, in intercession between us and God for the sake of our loved ones, is to fall on our knees and confess our sin of not being desperate enough to keep our loved ones out of hell.

Repentance and Trust in God's Covenant Promises

Repentance must be genuine here as we seek God's face and favor in accordance with His covenant promises. I believe God is a covenant-keeping God. I believe we can stand by faith upon His covenant-keeping promises.

I believe God's word is true, and God is true to His word. God declares He will do a thing for the person who is thirsty. Be honest, friend. Have you been thirsty enough to see your loved ones come to Christ for it to cost you something?

Are you willing to get up off your easy chair or couch and turn off your TV and go into the other room and fall on your face and cry out to God to hear your prayers for your unsaved family members? We see a condition, a covenant, and a conversion.

Conversion Through the Spirit and the New Birth

God declares, I will pour my spirit upon thy seed. This speaks of salvation. A person is saved by the divine operation of the Spirit of God as He takes away the heart of stone and makes it a heart of flesh through the supernatural act of regeneration and restoration through the new birth.

God makes mention of these three things here in our text, our condition, which means our willingness and desire to be desperate enough to become thirsty for a thing. In this case, the conversion of our loved ones.

God speaks of His covenant and of His willingness to pour out His spirit in converting grace to our children. I believe there used to be a generation about 150 years ago that had more praying mothers and praying fathers that continued to lift up their children in prayer in their closets to God for salvation.

Many were brought safely to Christ because they had a praying parent who wouldn't give up and let go of God. I don't believe we have that many praying parents anymore who know the cost and sacrifice of importunate prayer.

Fervent, Frequent, and Faithful Prayer

I believe many of us today are too busy to pray, too preoccupied with other things. Prayer and conversion go hand in hand. I believe our lack of prayer and our lack of understanding how to pray for our loved ones can be changed if we desire change.

I believe when we pray for our unsafe family members, that we should pray fervently, frequently, and faithfully. We should pray along these lines of Father in Heaven, I come unto you by the blood of thy dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I lift up my loved one to you now, and I ask you to bring them into a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, for your namesake and for your glory, amen.

I believe, friends, if we begin to pray for our loved ones' conversion, it will take on a deeper significance if we pray it right, if we pray they are saved for God's glory and for His namesake. I believe God will hear that kind of prayer.

I believe that lines up with scripture. Let me ask you, friend, are you in a thirsty place to see your loved ones saved? Like my friend, Marian Price, wrote in his book, Never Quit Praying for Your Loved Ones, I will end this message by quoting him.

Never Quitting Until the Answer Comes

The lesson for us is clear. We should never quit praying for our loved ones. We may not see the answer before we die, but we can go to the grave with a prayer on our lips for their salvation. And God is not limited to my lifetime or yours.

Sixty-three years after we die, He can send a simple gospel witness to speak to those for whom we have prayed.