A Prayer for the Loved One Not Walking With God

You know that loved one you want to break down the doors of Heaven for knocking on their behalf? The one your heart literally feels squeezed to the point of combustion as you watch their desperate, failing search for happiness. We want to shake them to their senses, we want to point out their errors, we want to cram Jesus down their throats and maybe they’ll realize they need Him if we’re just persistent enough?

Or maybe not. Because maybe we find it hard to pray for someone we’re supposed to call “loved one.” Someone responsible for hurting us or hurting those who mean the most to us. Maybe we know we’re supposed to beseech Heaven on their behalf, but we’re not sure how. Maybe it’s someone we’ve prayed for God to rescue so long, now we’re beginning to question His ability to rescue after all?

When we feel helpless, loveless, or hopeless, we must not be prayerless.

It took just these few verses to revolutionize my view of the person, the problem, the rescue, the God, and the responsibility I have in the process. In Psalm 107: 9-15 we find an outline to pray on the behalf of someone else, a reminder of the heart and power of God, and an urgent plea for us to claim and proclaim the goodness of God and His active work in our lives.

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Will you look at these verses with me? Will you pray these Bible truths for our loved ones?

Psalm 107: 9-15

Verse 10: “such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron.”

For those who sit in the darkness of unbelief or separation from God. For those who are bound by affliction or wear the chains of regret, unbelief, a besetting sin, fear, or pride. For those who fear death because they do not have the hope of Heaven. We pray.

For the loved one whose pride takes the place of the Savior, whose successes are recognized instead of their need for Christ. For the loved one bound by lies believing there is no eternity, no heaven and hell. For the loved one bound by the pleasures of sin for a season, the loved one with a stronghold of sin so controlling it has become their sole desire. For each loved one that needs God, needs rescue, and needs redemption. We pray.

Pray for God to show them their error.

Verse 11: “Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:”

When we follow anything other than the counsel of God and fix our paths on something other than Truth then we walk the path of rebellion into slavery of sin. We become slaves of our own pride, lusts, and susceptible to every lie that is absent of Truth.

We cannot be surprised by the shackles we, or loved ones, are found in when we choose anything other than Christ. Nor should we question God’s ability to break every chain. He holds the key to every stronghold, every chain, every lies. He is Truth.

Pray for God to bring them to the end of themselves.

Verse 12: Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down and there was none to help.”

We pray for God to bring them low, low enough to see there is none to help but God. We pray God would protect their life, but bring in their path whatever will help them see their neediness. We pray their strength would run out, apart from God. We pray the satisfaction of sin would grow old. Pray their eyes will see there is none- no person, no strength within themselves, no lie, and no sin that can fill the need they have but God.

Pray for them to cry out to God.

We pray they recognize their need for rescue, a clear need for something only God can provide. None to help, but God. Our God, Who is everything. We pray they will see God’s strong hand ready to help. We pray our lives and the Christians around our loved ones will display the kind, strong, willing, helping hand of God. Let them see God’s goodness, and long for His forgiveness, grace, restoration, the light, the life, the hope, the love God offers in setting them free.

Pray the Promises of God for them.

Verse 13: “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses.”

“When we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

God is faithful.

When a sinner cries out to God for rescue, He will always save. We pray this to be said of your loved one. We pray for God to have an opportunity to show Himself faithful on behalf of our loved one.

God delights to save.

We do not need to pray God would choose to rescue that loved one. He has chosen to. We must pray the loved one will call out to Him and receive the offer of rescue.

Whether it be rescue from eternal damnation or rescue from a stronghold of sin, we pray for rescue. And our God is King of rescuing.

Pray for them to see God’s goodness.

Verse 9: “for he satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

God alone can satisfy. He promises to fill the hungry soul with goodness. Even to those who are bound by their sinful cravings. You want to meet their greatest needs and deepest desires. We pray our lives would display God’s goodness and the work of His hands in our lives. Let our lives showcase His ability to satisfy our cravings of purpose, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and grace. Let our lives be fruit of a soul full of His presence. We pray God’s goodness would be evident to them so it could be evident in them.

Verse 15: “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” This is repeated four times in Chapter 107 in between accounts of God’s active presence of power and goodness in the lives of men. This ought to be the praise ever on our lips, whether chains are broken today or in twenty years. Because God is always at work and His power never changes. And the goodness of God leads to repentance.

Maybe by proclaiming God’s goodness and His wonderful works, our testimony might turn the loved one to see Christ as the chain-breaker, the One Who satisfies, Savior, Rescuer, I Am.

We must be faithful witnesses of God’s goodness in our lives, in the lives of others, and maybe that will be the key to seeing God’s goodness received in our loved ones life.

Maybe the more we praise God’s goodness, the more we will see it. Maybe the more we exalt God’s work, the more He will do.

[bctt tweet="Maybe by proclaiming God’s goodness and His wonderful works, our testimony might turn the loved one to see Christ as the chain-breaker, the One Who satisfies, Savior, Rescuer, I Am." username="realpaprhearts"]

Pray for God to break every chain.

Verse 14: “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in sunder.”

God is the Victor.

There is rescue from the darkness. There can be no fear in death. Every chain can be broken in the Name of Jesus.

We can claim the victory He is capable of giving toward our loved one and pray our loved one will allow God have the victory in their lives as well.

Pray in the power of the Name of Jesus.

We must pray the power of the name of Jesus over their life.

Our God has no limits, He holds all power, He has all wisdom, He is love, and He has canceled the debt we owe offering freedom to be found nowhere else. The freedom and victory our loved one needs comes from God alone.

So we pray this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Dear Father God,

(v10) God we pray for our loved ones separated from you by unbelief or a stronghold from the devil. (v11) We ask you to reveal to them how they have rebelled against the words of God and are instead walking the path of captivity and destruction. (v12) Bring them low, to the end of themselves, with none to help but You. Let nothing get in the way from their ability to see their need for You, to look into the eyes of their Savior and cry out to You. Lord, we know you are ready to rescue them. You are standing right next to them ready to reach out and save, to break them free, to provide freedom. We pray they see Your willing hand. Your strong hand. Your hand that is capable of breaking every chain that binds them. Your perfection that is able to forgive every sin that has a grasp on them. (v13) Let them see You are greater, stronger, and better than any pleasure of sin, presence of guilt, or power of fear. Show them Your power. Your power to save. Show them Your goodness. Lord, we beg You on their behalf to open their eyes to their desperation and Your redemption.

(v 14) Set them free. Break every chain, God. We know there is power in the name of Jesus to set the captive free. Break the bands binding them to sin, weighing them down and keeping them from the cross. Bring them out of the shadows of darkness and into the light of Your presence. Lord, You are the way, the Truth, and the Life. Their chains can be left at the cross because Your perfect sacrifice paid the price for the sin that imprisons them. We pray they claim the victory You have provided over sin and death, today.  Bring them to the place where death is no longer a shadow looming over them, but a promise of eternity spent with their Savior beginning at Your appointed time.

God, we know You are all-powerful, unbound by time, unbound by any limits. We know You wear the Victor’s Crown. We know you hold the key to each chain and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. And we ask today to be the day our loved one recognizes You are Lord, You are the Savior of the World, and that You set the captive free. Break every chain, our great God. Rescue our loved one.

(v9) Lord, you alone can satisfy. You alone can fill the hungry soul with goodness. We pray our loved one would look to You to meet their needs, to satisfy the longings of their heart, to fill their hungry soul with Your presence.

(v15) We pray this until we see You work. We pray this until You come again. Your timing is not ours but we will continually praise You for Your goodness and Your wonderful works toward us.

Make us declarers of Your goodness. Let our lives speak of Your active work in sanctification. Let our words and our actions point to the goodness of God in our lives. May we continually pursue Your heart so it shines in ours, and others see Your goodness as we administer goodness to them. Let our lives speak of the freedom in salvation, the joy in restoration, and the love of redemption. Make our lives testimonies that turn our loved one to see Christ as the Chain-breaker, the One Who satisfies, Savior, Rescuer, I Am.

There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. We praise You for what You’ve done, what You can do, and what You will do. We praise You for Your goodness. We claim the power we have at the throne of grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Check out the blog post "how to love people like Jesus" for encouragement on how to show Christ to your loved ones.