Praying for Unbelievers in Your Life (& Bible Verses that Help)
Praying for the salvation of the unbelievers in your life? Today I’m sharing Bible verses you can use to pray for the unsaved people in your life.
Also, make sure to listen to the prayer for unsaved loved ones (see above) and let’s make intentional time to contend for the hearts and lives we want Jesus to touch.
why pray for the people in our lives who aren’t saved?
First, we should pray for the people in our lives who aren’t saved because we love them and we know the radical life (and heart) transformation that comes with salvation. For those of us who are born again, we know what from death to life means in a spiritual but also tangible way. We remember what life was like before Jesus and we don’t want to go back there! I know I don’t. Our lives now walking with the Lord aren’t perfect, but they are being perfected by God as we grow in our sanctification everyday. And, we want everyone to feel and experience what we live out through faith.
We also know what’s at stake. We know the peace and the joy of walking with the Lord and the comfort of the promise that we will live eternally with God in heaven. God loves all of His children. Every one of us has been born for a reason and a purpose. And it’s God’s intention that all of His children are saved. So praying for the unsaved is also a really beautiful way of honoring this truth.
11 bible verses to pray for unbelievers
pray that God will open their heart to hear the gospel like he did for lydia.
ACTS 16:14 - One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. (ESV)
Pray they seek God with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (ESV)
pray that God will open their eyes from what they can’t (yet) see.
2 Corinthians 4:4 - Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (NLT)
pray they accept Jesus as their Lord and savior.
Romans 10:9 - If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (NIV)
pray they choose to live for christ and not for selfish desires.
2 Corinthians 5:15 - And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (NIV)
pray they turn from their sin.
Acts 3:19 - Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (NIV)
pray they know god’s love for them.
1 John 4:9-10 - God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (NLT)
pray that in everything you do and everywhere you go you bring the fragrance of christ which affects the minds and hearts of everyone you come into contact with.
2 Corinthians 2:14 - But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. (NLT)
pray that God sends faithful believers like you to boldly share the gospel with unbelievers.
Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (NLT)
pray they believe through hearing the gospels.
Romans 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. (NLT)
pray that they would live according to the word of god.
Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (ESV)
While we don’t know god’s intentions or his timing, we can hold onto hope in god’s faithfulness.
Depending on the situation and the intensity that we’re praying for our friends, family, and community to be saved, we ultimately have to be ok with what is in the meantime. This can be so hard! And it requires us to surrender as we pray for them.
We don’t know when or if. But let’s not give up praying for them and being the fragrance of Christ - the kind, non-judgmental person they can ask ‘I’m was just curious…" kinds of questions to. Or be the person they confide in and ask to pray for them over their daily challenges.
Let’s remember we can have all the confidence that God is good. He is working and moving beyond what we might see in the lives of the people we’re praying for. We can live in anticipation of the day when our friend comes and shares that Jesus has opened their eyes. And I don’t know about you but that gives me a lot of peace while I wait. God is for-sure working.
Here’s the post-it note of the people I’m currently praying to be saved. If you have any names or loved ones you’d like me to pray for, lmk.
I love you!
Eliza
