How You Can Pray for Your Unsaved Loved Ones

As a Christian in today’s world, there is no greater joy when you think about how that at the other side of eternity, you will get to see all your loved ones again who were all saved and lived for God. Oh! what a great reunion this will be for us in heaven. But what if you feel burdened by the life of an unsaved family member? Are you thinking about how you can pray for your unsaved loved ones?

It is only natural for you to desire that your loved ones are saved and walking with God. However, your desires though valid may not to match your reality here on earth. This is because you have seen those closest to you vehemently reject God and his counsel. You have experienced the heart-breaking pain that comes with watching a loved one held captive by sin and her life torn apart by the schemes of the wicked ones right before your eyes.

You have looked helplessly from afar at a loved one who is locked tightly in embrace with this sinful world. You are completely broken by the actions of a rebellious child/loved one/family member who has strayed away from the path of truth as you think of the eternal consequences of her actions.

Perhaps, you are in this place and season of life, I want to remind you that God is a compassionate God who came to set the captives free. He shows the proper path to those who go astray. And the truth is that we are certainly not helpless in the matter of our unsaved and backslidden loved ones and we must never give up on their salvation and return to God.

We have a merciful God who desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of his truth. Knowing this helps us to come before God boldly and cry out in prayer for the souls of our unsaved loved ones.

 Saving us is the greatest and most concrete demonstration of God’s love, the definitive display of His grace throughout time and eternity. – David Jeremiah

Praying for Unsaved Loved Ones

How long will it take before God hears my prayer to save my loved ones? This is one question that plagues the heart of many believers today. Some have even given up praying for their loved ones because it feels like God is distant and silent to their cries. I have prayed for years for the salvation of some loved ones. I must confess that I have given up and abandoned praying at some point when it looked like the situation was worse off.

Often times, we are left wondering if God will ever save, rescue and deliver that family member from the bondage and snare of sin and Satan. Some are even trapped with the burden of guilt knowing that a loved one died unsaved and they could not do anything about it.

Sometimes, the salvation of our loved ones maybe swift and happen in an instant, at other times it may feel like a lifetime and something that looks impossible. However, our trust in God’s unfailing love and compassion must remain constant as we keep interceding for their souls in prayer. We must let this truth sink into our hearts – God does not want anyone to perish, rather he wants every single person to come to repentance. This is the heart and desire of our heavenly father for the lost.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

In the book of Luke, chapter 4:18, Jesus clearly states his mission here on earth. And I am reminded of a few things within these verses of scriptures.

• Jesus came to preach the gospel (good news) to the poor. (Spiritually ignorant and lost)
• Jesus came to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.

Our unsaved loved ones are captives of sin, Satan and the world. They are blinded to the truth and knowledge of God and his word. They have not encountered the saving power of the gospel of Christ.  With this knowledge, we can start to pray differently for their salvation and we can continue to stand in the gap in faith for the salvation of our unsaved family members. Here are some specific areas to pray for your unsaved loved ones.

7 Specific Prayers You Can Pray for Your Unsaved Loved Ones

1. A Prayer for Their Hearts

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 36:26

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. – Romans 2:5

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. – Romans 10:10

A Prayer for an unsaved loved one’s Heart

Dear father, I bring __________ before you this day and ask that you take away her heart of stone and replace it with a believing heart.

Shred her heart of every form of hardness and stubbornness and give her a new clean, pure and humble heart that is responsive to the voice and love of God.

Father, I ask that you give her a repentant heart that she may see the foolishness and nothingness of sin and her desperate need for God. Lord, fill her heart with your love every single that she may come to know the height and depth of your love for her. I declare that with this new heart that you have given her, she will come to believe in Jesus and openly confess his Lordship over her life. Amen!

2. A Prayer for Their Minds

Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. – Ephesians 4:18 NLT

For their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; they are alienated and self-banished from the life of God with no share in it; this is because of the willful ignorance and spiritual blindness that is deep-seated within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart. – Ephesians 4:18 AMP

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. – Romans 8:7

A Prayer for an Unsaved Loved One’s Mind

Precious Lord, I release ___________’s  mind to you today and ask that every form of darkness that has covered her mind disappear right now. In every way that her reasoning has been clouded with lies and half-truths from the enemy, let there be a dismantling of such beliefs and falsehoods.

Father, penetrate every darkness in her mind that has caused her to be alienated from God. Open her mind to receive the truth of the gospel and flood it with your light. Take away every form of hostility against God in ___________’s mind and give her a renewed mind.

Dear God, transform ____________’s thinking, renew her thoughts and give her a mind that is transformed in Christ. I pray that the light of this glorious gospel of Jesus Christ will fill her entire mind and shut out every form of darkness and spiritual ignorance. Liberate her from every bondage in her mind and thoughts that have cause her to wander faraway from God. I declare today that she has the mind of Christ. Amen!

3.  A Prayer for Open Eyes

Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. –  2 Corinthians 3:16

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God – 2 Corinthians 4:4

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. – John 8:12

A Prayer for an Unsaved Loved One’s Spiritual Eyes

 Father, I pray for ___________, that her inner eyes be open to see the goodness and glory of God. It is true that her inner eyes have been covered from seeing the truth of God’s love, purpose and plan for her life. And so, I ask Lord that you take away every veil off her eyes.

Lord, you are the same God who opened Paul’s spiritual eyes to see Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw a greater light and his life was transformed forever. I pray for _________,  that she would encounter Jesus and see his glory in this season of her life.

May she see God’s love, goodness and power around her life in ways she has never known or experienced. Lord, I ask that you open her eyes to truly see Jesus the light of the world that she may never walk in darkness ever again. Amen!

4. A Prayer for Open Ears

So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. – Romans 10:17

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. – John 10:3-4

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? – Romans 10:14

A Prayer for an Unsaved Loved One’s Ears

Lord, today I ask that you bring people into ___________’s life that will share the good news of the gospel with her. May these people surround her path and radiate God’s heart and love to her.

I pray that her ears will be open to hear the word of God that is able to save her from her sins. I pray also that as she hears the truth of your word, your light will fill her spirit man and faith will be planted in her heart.

Father call __________ by name and lead her into your truth. May this day bring an end to every form of spiritual deafness in her life. Open her ears to hear you, call out her name until she clearly discerns your voice. And as she hears you, may every seed of your word that has ever been planted in her heart begin to bear fruits of healing, hope, deliverance, restoration and salvation in her life in Jesus name. Amen!

5. Strongholds and Lies of the enemy

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds – 2 Corinthians 10:4NKJV

A Prayer to break Strongholds

Father, I release _____________ to you and ask that you pull down every form of mental and spiritual stronghold in her life. Demolish every wall of resistance in her life, be it a mental or emotional wall of resistance that has stood as a barrier preventing God’s truth from penetrating her spirit.

Father, I come against every rebellious spirit at work in her life. I come against pride, intellectualism, head knowledge and human wisdom that is blinding her from the truth and true knowledge of God.

Let every form of stronghold in her life come crashing down. Every war waging against her soul by the enemy is lost. I come in the name of the Lord and by the power that is in the word of God and declare victory over your daughter’s life. No more will she be held captive by mental, spiritual and emotional strongholds built in her life by the enemy. She is free and walks free in the name of Jesus. Amen!

6. Unholy Influences and Associations

Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits. – 1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? – 2 Corinthians 6:14

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. – Proverbs 13:20

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. – Psalm 1:1

A Prayer for Release from Unholy Influences and Associations

Heavenly father, I pray that with the help of your spirit, ________ is dissociated from every unholy alliance and ungodly influence in her life. Every form of company, friendship and association that has pulled her away from God’s plan and purpose for her life begins to disintegrate from this moment.

I pray that every evil person disguised as a friend in her life and has come to bring ruin and havoc be unmasked and revealed for what he or she is. Let her begin to see the deception in those relationships and how much harm they are bringing into her life.

Father, take such people far away from her path. Lord, give her the strength to walk away from every relationship and association that is keeping her stuck in a life of sin. Release the grip of such friendships over her life today.

I declare over _________, that she will not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. She belongs to God and is a daughter of the most high God and she comes into a full awareness of her identity in God from this day forward. You cease having any form of fellowship with people and associations that represent darkness and are influencing you in wrong, evil and negative ways.

God is cutting you off from every form of unholy influences at work in your life,  spaces and environment. You are disentangled from workers of iniquity and peddlers of evil. You will not be devoured or consumed by such relationships and associations in the name of Jesus. Amen!

7. Curses and Generational Patterns

But He answered and said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.’ – Matthew 15:13

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. – Galatians 3:13

 Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities.- Lamentations 5:7

You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. –  Exodus 20:5-6

A Prayer to Break Curses and Generational Patterns

By the power that is in the name of Jesus Christ, I break every curse over ____________’s life. I render every curse spoken over her life ineffective and speak forth her release from every spell binding her from receiving her salvation in the name of Jesus.

Dear Lord, wherever there has been a generational pattern of sin, addiction and perversion in her family line, let the blood of Jesus that was shed wash over her lineage right now. May every sin, iniquity, curses and bondage that has held many captives in her bloodline be broken off in the name of Jesus.

Father, I come before your mercy seat and plead mercy over your daughter. Release her this day from every generational pattern that has been operating in her blood line. Set her free from every history of sin and struggle with a particular sin from past generations that is functioning in her family line.

I come against depression, alcoholism, addiction, perversion, suicide, mental illness, divorce, domestic violence, adultery and every form of abuse that has stood as a recurring pattern in her blood line. I declare that such patterns cease today in the name of Jesus.

___________, you are delivered this day from generational curses and iniquities. Every negative pattern of sin in your family line and life is uprooted from your life today. You are no longer a partaker of the sins and iniquities of your fathers. Jesus has found you and will show you mercy and set you free. Lord, I thank you because these generational curses and patterns over ___________’s are broken by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Final Thoughts

I want to encourage you to keep praying for your unsaved loved ones no matter what. Call them by name and keep praying. Be specific with your requests and petitions to God about their lives and situation. Do not give up. Be persistent. Sometimes it may seem as if nothing is happening or look like the person you are praying for is sinking further into sin.

Always remember that God is faithful and that you must learn to trust in his sovereignty. How and when he chooses to answer our prayers is something we must learn to trust him with. Continue to pray even when you don’t see any answers and believe that God is working in their hearts and minds. And that in due time, he will draw them to him and they will be saved. After all God loves them more than we even do.

May God continue to strengthen you as you pray for your unsaved loved ones. And may the Holy Spirit inspire and fill your heart with specific prayers for their salvation. Amen!

You can read this also:

A Prayer for Godly and Meaningful Friendships for Your Child

Embracing a Life of Prayer