How to pray for lost loved ones

Last Sunday Pastor shared regarding the word the Lord has given to him, that is, to reach out to our parents, aunts and uncles.  For many, it may not be an easy thing to do due to their years of entrenchment in what they have believed.  However, the Scriptures declare that all things are possible with God and all things are possible to them that believe (Mk 9:23; 10:27).  Recognising that salvation is a work of God and that it belongs to Him, we need to pray, and praying strategically (Rev 7:10; 2 Tim 2:1-4). 

In this regard, I would like to share something on pryer based on the book of the above title by Dutch Sheets.  Reading 2 Cor 10:3-5, taken from the NASB:

 ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, ...

There are three aspects of fortresses we can destroy through prayers:
1. "Speculations" or "arguments" (logismos): calculated reasoning, human wisdom or logic; this is the sum total of the accumulated wisdom and information learned over time.  It becomes the person's mind set which includes knowledge of philosophies, religions, humanism, atheism, intellectualism and anything that causes one to think in a certain fashion.   When a pre-believer hears the gospel, it is first filtered through the subconscious where all other information (including these logismoi) is stored.  This means that he/she does not hear only what is proclaimed but also what he/she already believes.  In our praying, we should focus the attention of God's powerful weapons on the logismoi fortresses of Satan in the minds of pre-believers.

2. "Every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" (hupsoma): any elevated place or thing.  This is referring to the same root word as pride.  It involves a desire to rule our own lives, decide for ourselves right and wrong and basically be our own god.  Pray against the spirit of pride and unbelief assailing against our loved ones.

3. "Thought" (noema): plans, schemes, devices or plots.  It could be the spontaneous thoughts and temptations Satan uses to assault the pre-believers, as well as the schemes and plans he uses to keep them shut in darkness.  In prayer, we must bind his diabolical schemes and pray that our loved ones would be shielded from Satan's fiery darts. 

The pre-believers cannot war for themselves.  We need to stand in the gap on their behalf using the mighty weapons God has entrusted to us to tear away the veils over their hearts and minds.  Keep on praying in the spirit!