In every believer’s life, the most urgent prayer is that which focuses on the lost and backslidden. Yet it is vital for believers to understand not all prayers are equal.
Many saints live with a burden of praying for friends or relatives but are seeing no answers. Though there are no magic prayers, the Bible does say “The effective, fervent prayer of the righteous avails much” (James 5:16b).
To help interested believers pray more effectively, I am providing a portion directly quoted from our tool My Great Commission Prayer Covenant which is available online as a laminated Bible insert through our website—frizzellministries.org.
My covenant prayer
“Lord and Savior, I desire to walk with You in love, passion and obedience. I understand that a vital part of loving You is to obey Your Great Commission. Because You have commanded us to witness to all the world and make disciples, I covenant to do five things. (1) I will abide in Christ’s power by daily cleansing, fullness and prayer. (2) I will pray for myself and my church to have a strong missional focus and witness to all the world. (3) I will fervently pray for my list of lost souls and ever seek ways to bring them to Christ. (4) I will seek to love, serve and witness to others wherever I go. (5) Lord, by Your grace, I will pray fervently, give sacrificially and labor continually for specific local and global missions.”
Powerful prayers for lost people, wayward believers and loved ones in bondage
• Pray for God to convict of their personal sin and lostness (Acts 2:37; John 16:8).
• Pray for God to draw them to Christ by the Holy Spirit (John 6:44).
• Pray for God to tear down any strongholds that are keeping them from salvation or full surrender (1 Cor. 10:3-5). Ask God for insight into their strongholds and pray specifically for their removal.
• Pray for God to make their hearts good soil, fully receptive to Christ (Matt. 13:8).
• Pray for God to move them to new birth, saving faith and true repentance (2 Cor. 5:17; Luke 13:3; Eph. 2:8-9).
• Pray that they become fruitful disciples and witnesses that lead others to Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; John 15:8).
Biblical prayers for missionaries and mission concerns
• Pray for great empowerment, provision and protection for missionaries and their families (Acts 1:8; Phil. 4:19; Eph. 6:13).
• Pray for God’s Word to run swiftly and have free course (2 Thess. 3:1).
• Pray for wisdom and empowerment in all evangelism, discipleship and missions strategies (James 1:5).
• Pray for Satan and evil forces to be restrained, truth revealed and strongholds demolished (2 Cor. 10:3-5).
• Pray for overwhelming conviction, spiritual drawing, revelation and salvation to sweep the nations (John 16:8; Acts 2:37; Eph. 1:17-19).
• Pray for strong discipleship of converts and the raising up of church planters, preachers, teachers and witnesses (Matt. 9:38, 28:18-20).
• Pray for great encouragement, grace, power, protection and provision for persecuted saints (John 17:15; Phil. 4:19; 2 Thess. 2:16-17).
• Pray for God’s glory to be revealed, His Name to be praised and Christ’s kingdom to explode throughout the earth.
May God find His people faithful in praying consistently and effectively for the lost! To order the resource, visit our website: frizzellministries.org.
