Always Pray Salvation Before Provision

Luke18:1

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Because it is the will of God the Father that none shall perish, it is consistent with our position as disciples of Jesus Christ that we focus our prayers on the needs of the unsaved people who surround us.  We surely may pray for their natural needs, but our responsibility as true intercessors calls us to pray first for their supernatural needs.  As we examine God's Word, we find that Jesus never healed anyone physically without mentioning that their sins had been forgiven.  The proper prayers of an intercessor will always focus first on salvation and then on provision.

Jesus, who controls the timing of the perfect collaboration of physical and spiritual healing, recognized that this is often a very long process...at least in our minds.  He understands that we are evaluating a process that we are measuring by our days.  He recognizes how the passing of time without results discourages us as our clocks and the the clocks of those that we are praying for continue to tick away.  He is well aware that in our weakness we tend to give up when we see those around us losing the battle to time.  Thus, Jesus commanded us to always pray and not lose heart.  In doing so, He sought to give us confidence in knowing that all things are set and delivered according to His perfect eternal timing.  He sought to remind us that every single person who surrounds us was placed there by Him.  And He certainly sought to emphasize that He never drops any man from His salvation plan nor should we.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You giving us Your Son to instruct us how to pray in accordance with Your will for all men.  We ask for the supernatural inspiration to pray for all the people who surround us.  We pray for the fortitude to maintain our battle for their salvation even when it seems that the war is being lost.  We beseech You, Father, that You would show us how to bring our prayers into alignment with the plans that You have for those that we pray for.  We celebrate our roles as intercessors.  May You bless us, Lord, by allowing us to see the fruit of our labors.