Prayer Lesson 8: Evangelistic Prayer

God’s desire is for all people to “live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” 1 Timothy 2:2. We need to be praying for our neighbors and neighborhoods. The following are some evangelistic prayer formats to use.

*H.O.P.E. (Houses of Prayer Everywhere) Ministries offers the following prayer strategy:

Pray 5 blessing for 5 neighbors for 5 minutes a day for 5 days a week for 5 weeks.

They encourage you to use “bless” as a guide:

B – body: helth, protection, strength
L – Labor: work, income, security
E – Emotional: joy, peace, hope
S – Social: love, marriage, family, friends
S – Spiritual: salvation, faith, grace

* The “Celebrate Jesus” prayer initiative of Mission America encourages people to use the following guide:

Ask God….

• to open their spiritual eyes (2 Cor.4:4)
• to set them free from Spiritual captivity (2 Tim 2:25-26
• to give them ears to hear (matt.13:15), faith to believe (Acts 20:21), and the will to respond (Rom.10:9)
• to send people into their lives to witness to them (Matt. 9:38)
• for ways to build caring relationships (1 Cor.9:22)
• for opportunities to witness (Col. 4:3)
• for boldness to witness (Acts 4:29)
• for an opportunity to invite them to a “harvest” event (Luke 4:23)

Praying for the Lost

The following is a short lesson on praying for the lost. It was originally designed to be a lesson on its own, but I thought I would tack it on here since we are speaking of evangelistic prayer. It focuses on you as the messenger and them as the recipient. Read through the things you can pray for and ask God to show you how you can help those who don’t know Him.

Pray for Yourself

• Pray that you will be open to God’s leading. He will guide you. Trust Him.
• Pray for opportunities to share. You will be suprised at how many opportunities we pass up daily, opportunities to share.
• Pray for boldness. It is hard to step out of our comfort zone. We all know that. Ask God to help you be bold in sharing and taking those opportunities.

Pray for the Unsaved

• Pray that God will soften their hearts to prepare them to recieve the message you bring.
• Pray that they would become aware of their need, of the emptiness within, that something is missing. And most of all, that they would WANT to fill that emptiness
• Pray that Satan be bound from blinding them to the truth.
• Pray that the Holy Spirit be working in them.
• Pray for others to water the seeds you have planted.
  

Study Questions:

1. Should we pray for other people’s health, relationship, and personal problems or only for their salvation?
2. Should we pray for the salvation of others or trust God to do the work?
3. Does the Bible speak of us praying for others?
4. Do you need to pray for yourself?
   

Think About It

Are you praying for those around you? Look at the people around your home, a specific neighborhood, or your city in general. Dedicate some time each day (5 minutes is all HOPE asks for) to pray for your neighbors.

Prayer Series Index | Prayer Lesson 9