I would like to start a new thread based on this article. The original can be found at: http://biblehelp.org/prayperson.htm (Use by permission of author) Is it even Biblical to Pray for a Person’s Salvation? Recently, someone told me that it is not Biblical to pray for someone’s salvation. He said that the Bible instructs us to pray for more laborers, but it never instructs us to pray for the salvation of specific individuals. This got me curious, so I started taking a closer look at this subject. When I asked others about their thoughts, I got responses ranging from, “Yes, of course. God desires that we intervene on the behalf of others,” all the way to, “Definitely no; what ARROGANCE!!!!” The Bible, of course, has to be our final authority. So, what does it say … ? [NOTE: I did not include the rest of the article because of its length. It is, however, very important to read the rest of the article to understand the discussion being made on this thread. The article can be found at: http://biblehelp.org/prayperson.htm ]
The article mistakenly connects the act of praying for someone's salvation with it actually being mysteriously granted without their permission, a silly, non-scriptural notion. For me personally, I pray that a person's heart and mind be open and focused on God, and I'll let Him take it from there! Jeff
Your friend makes the mistake of assuming that something not explicitly commanded in Holy Scripture is thus "unbiblical" or "not biblical". The need to pray for the salvation of others falls under the Lord's Prayer and the petitions "forgive us our trespasses" and "deliver us from evil" - because salvation consists of God's mercy to forgive us and God's grace to deliver us - not "me", but "us". At any rate, I believe the "effect" of praying for the salvation of another - especially an enemy - is in the soul of the one who prays, not the one who is prayed for. We pray for the salvation of others because it teaches us to love. Did the Lord not teach us to love one another first, as He has loved us? How, then, did He love us? To the end; even to a Cross, whereupon he said "forgive them".
1 Timothy 2 et seq. instructs us to pray for everyone and every kind of people since only God knows those who are His. This is not even an issue.