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 Bownes, the son
of E.M. Bownes to the Lord, back
in 1976, when Osborne Bownes 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's 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.
Turn in your Bibles to the book of
Isaiah.
We will be in chapter 44, and in
verse 3.
Here 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.
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 filling a need 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 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.
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 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.
And many were brought savingly 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.
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.
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 a loved one's conversion, it will take
on a deeper significance if we pray or
write.
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 one
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.
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.
63 years after we die, he can send
a simple gospel witness to speak to those
for whom we have prayed.