Should We Pray for Unbelievers or for Evangelists?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.8 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2022

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Does Scripture ever command us to pray for unbelievers, or does it only command us to pray for the evangelists who speak to them?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, some of the best questions you all send to us come from the tensions that you see
0:07.9	directly in Scripture as you read through the Bible, and that leads to the question that
0:12.0	we have today.
0:13.0	Do we pray for the salvation of unbelievers directly, or do we pray for the evangelists
0:18.4	who bring the gospel to those unbelievers?
0:21.6	To an interesting Bible question on this Friday, as we close out week number 489 on the
0:27.1	podcast.
0:28.5	Wow.
0:29.5	The question today is from a listener named Tim.
0:31.3	Hello, Pastor John.
0:32.3	Can you tell me if we are commanded to pray for unbelievers?
0:36.5	It seems like the prayers and the instruction on prayer in the New Testament are focused
0:40.3	on praying for believers in context of evangelism.
0:44.3	I'm thinking of Colossians 4 verses 3 to 4 and Ephesians 6 verses 18 to 20.
0:49.7	In those places Paul is seeking prayer for his bold preaching, not prayers for unbelievers
0:54.4	themselves.
0:55.4	Is this instructive for us?
0:57.5	Are we to pray for unbelievers, pray for evangelists?
1:00.9	How does the Bible instruct our priority here?
1:03.5	Yes.
1:04.5	The Bible teaches us to pray for unbelievers and particularly to pray for their salvation,
1:12.2	but not only for their salvation, but also lots of blessings of other kinds that flow
	...

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