You Can't Pray For Someone To Get Saved

Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

I have often heard Christians say such unbiblical things as, “I am praying for his salvation” or “Please pray for so and so to come to Christ.” Unfortunately, all such praying is in vain, simply because God has given to every human being a free will to decide for ourselves. God never forces anybody to trust His only begotten Son to be saved.

If you are concerned about someone's eternal destination, then all you can do is pray for God to give them another opportunity to be saved. You can pray for God to work in their life and heart with Holy Spirit conviction. But you cannot pray for God to make someone get saved.

I don't like it when people ask me to pray for someone's salvation, because that is not a reasonable prayer request. John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Carefully notice that Jesus didn't say “ye cannot come”; but rather, “ye will not come.” God offers His “free gift” (Romans 5:15-18) of eternal life to every human being.

I vehemently detest the heresies of reprobate John Calvin (1509-1564), who is sadly burning in Hell forever. Calvin foolishly taught that Christ didn't die for all men (aka, the heresy of “Limited Atonement”). What saith the Scripture? 1st John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The inspired Word of God couldn't be more clear that Jesus died for ALL MEN, not just for the saints. Sadly, Pastor Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a 2-point Calvinist who taught the same tommyrot, poppycock and balderdash of Limited Atonement. Spurgeon also taught the Calvinist heresy of the Perseverance of the Saints (aka, the damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation).

You can pray for God to send a soulwinner to share the Gospel with a lost person, but you cannot pray for their salvation. Granted, I think when most people pray for a lost sinner's “salvation,” they don't literally mean for God to force them to be saved; but rather, to work in that person's life in hope that at some point in the future they will come to Christ in faith to be saved. So, I wouldn't criticize someone for praying for another sinner's salvation.

That being said, I wrote this blog to teach you that God never forces anyone to respond favorably to the light of the truth of the Gospel. Jesus plainly said in John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” That is why we are told in Jude 1:22-23, “And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” We certainly can and should do all that is possible to lead lost sinners to Jesus with the Gospel, but they alone must make the decision, we cannot make it for them.

The False Gospel Of A 'King James Bible' Website

Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Dear reader, right doctrine matters! There is nothing in this universe as important as God's simple plan of salvation, because if you get the Gospel wrong you cannot be born again, which means you'll spend eternity without escape in a burning Hell of fire and brimstone. ...

Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

That being said, here is the counterfeit plan of salvation put forth by the 'King James Bible' website...

Sample prayer

"Dear God, I believe in you and that your Son, Jesus Christ, is Lord. I believe He died for my sins and was resurrected. I repent and ask for forgiveness of my sins. I've decided to follow Jesus for all the days of my life. Thank you for your forgiveness and for the hope of eternal life. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen." [emphasis added]

SOURCE: https://www.kingjamesbible.me/become-a-christian.php

At the bottom of the same webpage, the writer of the preceding counterfeit plan of salvation asks the reader: “Did you make a decision today to follow Jesus Christ?” THAT IS NOT PART OF THE GOSPEL! Dear friend, that is NOT how you get saved!

There are four problematic issues with the preceding plan of salvation:

1. Jesus' being “LORD” has nothing to do with receiving God's free gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life. What saith the Scripture? 1st Timothy 4:10, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” You simply need to accept Jesus as your personal Savior to be saved, but not your LORD! Christ automatically becomes your LORD (Master) when you get saved. BEWARE of Satan's Lordship Salvation! The Devil's modern perversions of the Holy Bible corrupt Romans 10:9 to read that you must say, “Jesus is Lord,” to be saved, but that is a false translation, not the truth of God's Word (Romans 1:25). Please use only the inspired King James Bible.
2. Nowhere does the inspired Word of God require you to pray a Sinner's Prayer to be saved. Religious men have added this extra step to God's simple plan of salvation. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” There is nothing inappropriate or wrong about accompanying one's faith with a prayer, but it is faith and not saying some words in a prayer that saves you. By not explaining this to lost sinners, you run the risk that they won't understand the Gospel.
3. Nowhere does the inspired King James Bible require anyone to “follow Jesus” to be saved. In Acts 16:16b-17a, “a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us...” A demon possessed woman followed the Apostle Paul. Just because someone follows Jesus doesn't mean they are saved. Judas Iscariot followed Jesus as one of His apostles and yet was a known thief whom Christ called “a devil” (John 6:70, 12:6). Many people FOLLOWED Jesus merely for a handout of food. John 6:26, “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” It is damnable heresy to tell someone to “become a Christ follower” to get to Heaven! This is simply not the Gospel. Although it is true that all of Jesus' sheep do follow Him, you don't get saved by following Christ; you get saved by resting in Him as your Savior (Hebrews 4:10-11; John 6:40).
4. The writer of the preceding counterfeit gospel tells the reader to “repent,” but doesn't explain what that means. In today's wicked American culture where most churches falsely require people to be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to be saved (which is reformation not repentance), it is absolutely necessary nowadays to explain what it means to “repent.” I personally never use the word at all, simply because the Gospel of John (God's Gospel track according to John 20:31) doesn't mention the word “repent” even once. That is simply because repentance is automatically included with believing. That is, you have changed your mind from unbelief to belief when you trust Christ. Bible repentance simply means to “change your mind,” nothing more. The context of a particular Scripture passage provides the necessary supplemental information to know what we must change our mind about. It is deceptive to merely require readers to “repent,” knowing fully that the reader can go either way in meaning. Repentance means different things to different people, which is why it is so vitally important to explain what the word means if you ever use it. You don't repent AND believe to be saved; you repent TO believe. Repentance facilitates believing.

A helpful illustration of repentance is flying from Chicago to Hawaii. I can simply instruct you to fly to Hawaii. It is not necessary for me to first tell you to leave Chicago, and then secondly go to Hawaii. The same is true with leading someone to faith in Jesus. You can simply preach the Gospel (which means “Good News”) to a lost sinner, without first telling them to leave their unbelief. This is exactly why we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times in the Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once.

Dear reader, you don't repent AND believe to be saved; you repent TO believe. Repentance facilitates believing. Jesus commanded the reader in John 5:39 to 'SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.' Tragically, 99% of churches, social media sites, religious books and movies, and so-called Christian colleges are WRONG on Bible repentance and God's simple plan of salvation. There are not different variations of the Gospel, there has alway been only one plan of salvation (Galatians 1:6-8). As did the Apostle Paul, I marvel how most churchgoers have fallen so easily hook, line and sinker like a hungry fish for the Devil's bait.

It saddens and frustrates me that a King James Bible website is preaching a counterfeit plan of salvation. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!! Thank you for reading my ministry blog.