Prayer, as we know it, is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith. It is one of the most influential acts we can partake in as believers of Christ, and it helps bridge a gap between us, and our Heavenly Father. Many of us have had very impactful moments in prayer, that have radically changed our lives, and have affected our faith.

In a study done by Pew Research Center, 55% of Christians would say that they rely on prayer when beginning to make “major life decisions”, and the same study found that 63% of Christians would call it an “essential part of their Christian identity”. Clearly, prayer is a very formative aspect of the Christian life. However, we don’t have the full grasp of what it can do in our lives.

Most would say that praying is a very important part of having a relationship with God. Like we discussed, it helps bridge a gap between us and God. It helps us to daily commune with Him in a way that we can know, and we can grasp. But there is an aspect of prayer that solemnly gets overlooked in today’s Church body. I would call this praying for salvation.

We all have probably prayed for our own salvation. But how many of us have prayed for the salvation of others? Our friends, our peers, our family. Prayer shouldn’t only be for us, but it should be for all those around us. We should be consistently praying for the salvation of those all around us, and with the power of prayer, believing that what we pray for others, in accordance with God’s will, will surely be done.

Authority in Prayer

Throughout the Gospels, there has always been one story that stuck out to me every time I read them. That is the story of the centurion’s faith. In Matthew 8, starting in verse 5, we meet a centurion, whose servant is very sick. He asks Jesus to heal his servant and Jesus says that He will come with the centurion to his home, where He will heal him. How the centurion responds greatly pleases Jesus.

“But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”” (Matthew 8:8-9).

Here, we see that the centurion has an understanding of the authority of Jesus, just as he understands his own authority as a centurion. When the centurion, an officer in the Roman army, commands his soldiers to do something, the soldiers obey. He has faith in his own authority, that just his words are enough for something to get done. He seems to be the first person that Jesus encounters that understands this concept of authority. Especially, when it comes to His own authority. Jesus even says that this is the greatest faith He’d seen yet.

The centurion believed in the authority of Jesus so much, that he knew that his ask, or prayer, would be answered. I see this as an area where we must grow in our faith and understanding. We must recognize our own authority in prayer, believing that anything we ask of Jesus, will be done according to His will, and His authority.

Ministering Spirits

The book of Hebrews, I believe expounds on this idea of authority. At the very beginning of this book, we are met with some words from God, in His son, Jesus. It is a very profound, and confusing chapter, that compares Jesus to the angels. At the end of this passage, we are met with a powerful line, that has a major impact on prayer.

“Are they(angels) not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).

Here, we see that angels are not on the same level as Jesus, and thus not higher than His fellow heirs in us, but are ministering spirits sent out for the sake of the heirs of salvation. This means that angels, are all sent out to help out the children of God. My personal belief is that they do this through prayer.

In the New Covenant, we are given authority, as we discussed, through Jesus living inside of us. We have become an heir through Him who was sent for us, and thus, the angels respond to the authority of the saints.

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17).

This means that as we pray, specifically for salvation for others, the angels are at work, responding to our prayers, and acting in accordance with God’s will. When we pray for the salvation of others, our words are causing spiritual moves to happen, just as the centurion believed happened when Jesus prayed. Of course, we aren’t fully renewed, and we don’t always know how to pray. But, when we pray in accordance with God’s will, our prayers will work!

Partnering in Prayer

Something that I have spoken of many times, is the desire of God to partner with His people. We see this desire throughout all of scripture, with Adam and Eve, through the prophets, and with His Church in the New Testament. Prayer is one of the ways that I believe God wants to partner with us the most.

Watchman Nee once said this about prayer,

“Our prayers lay the track down which Gods power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.”

This quote is not scripture of course, but it gives a great thought into prayer, that we may not normally see. This statement gathers that our prayers are like train tracks, that allow God’s will to move, as a train moves on the tracks. While I do believe that God can move perfectly fine without train tracks and can operate even if we don’t pray, I definitely believe that prayer is His preferred method of moving.

God could find a way for everyone to hear about Him without even going through people. He could heal someone without them ever having been prayed for. I see these as being miracles, not necessarily regular healings and such. But those are not His preferred methods of His will being done. After all, there is a reason why Jesus told us to pray “your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. He wants us to partner with Him.

Practical Applications for Prayer

Our main topic is salvation. We want to pray for others’ salvation and healing. So, when it comes to prayer, that is what we should be praying for.

• Make a list of people to pray for. There are so many people in our communities, jobs, schools, and families that need pray. One helpful way of remembering to pray for all of them is to make a list, possibly with any health or wellness concerns and start praying! I believe it is God’s will that everybody walks in salvation and health. This means that we can pray in confidence, knowing that by our authority in Christ, what we pray for will be done.

• Pray with others. Another great idea for praying for others, is to pray with others. Not only does this keep you accountable to keep praying, even when you don’t see immediate fruit, but scripture also supports that praying with others, is more powerful than praying alone!

• Pray in tongues. This one may come off kind of weird or odd depending on what kind of church you come from. However, I believe that praying in tongues is a powerful form of prayer. Romans 8:26 tells us that, “we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words”. This means that as we pray in tongues, the Spirit, who knows the will of God, prays for us. This ensures that we will pray in accordance with the will of God.

Lastly, I want to encourage you all. Prayer is a powerful tool when it comes to salvation, healing and more. But above all, we should be pursuing one thing, that is Jesus. First things first, and Jesus should always come first. Be sure that in prayer, you are in pursuit of Him, above all things.

Have a great week!