Lynn’s Top Verses to Pray for A Lost One

If you are joining us here today from my devotion at Proverbs 31 Ministries, welcome. I am so glad you decided to pop over! If you haven’t had a chance to read, “Hope in the Rubble“, take a minute to do so. I think you will be encouraged.

As I am daily praying for my loved one that I mentioned in my devotion, the words I pray over and over again are scripture. Here are some of my favorites:

Jeremiah 31:16 (New International Version)

“This is what the LORD says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the LORD.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.”

Matthew 18:18 (New International Version)

“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 19:26 (New International Version)

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

And my favorite:

Isaiah 49:16-18 (New International Version)

16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.

17 Your sons hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.

18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your sons gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the LORD,
“you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.

You can replace the word son for husband, wife, daughter, friend or even their name.

When I pray these verses, it reminds me that God is God and that He can be trusted with those things (and people!) who are outside of my control.

Be encouraged, my friend! God loves your loved one more than you do and there isn’t one day when He is not at work in their lives.

Can I pray for your loved one? If so, just leave me a comment below. I would love to stand by you.

Lynn

30 Comments

  1. I'm only leaving a comment to testify about the miraculous saving of my loved one, many years ago. It all seemed hopeless but our prayers wee answered and today he serves the Lord full time.

  2. Hendrika,
    Thank you so much for your comment! It is stories like your's that encourage my faith and remind me that God can do ANYTHING!

  3. Anonymous says:

    I continue to pray for my son. A few years ago he was definetly in the rubble. God was so very evident in his life helping to pull him out at that time. My son accepted Christ at that time. I pray that he has not fallen back into any of his bad habits or poor decisions. I continue to pray that he will seek God daily in his life and that he will grow in his relationship with the Lord. My son is in the Army and I pray that God will send him a strong christian as a friend and a mentor to help him with his journey. Someone that will lead him to a church, good friends and who will inspire him to be the best he can be.
    Thank you for praying for him.

  4. I was so touched by your devotion about praying for a loved one and especially by your honest comment that sometimes you get tired of praying for him. How I relate to that! Still, when a pressing need arises, I pledge to pray and do so continually. Years ago, I began wearing a ring when someone needed urgent prayer. I kept it on until the need was met. I have continued to do that as each time I glance at my hand and see the ring (or rings – sometimes there are multiple needs, of course), I am reminded to stop and pray right then. And then comes that wonderful day when I get to remove the ring – the symbol of God's answering every prayer in His time. It is a joyful moment and a reminder of His faithfulness. I pray that you are soon able to "remove your ring" for your loved one and that God will be glorified in the process.

  5. Father,
    We pray for our sons today. We pray that you will bring them mentors and others who will point the way to You and lead them closer to Your heart. Whether they are in the Army, in high school, or still little children, bring our sons to You Lord!
    Amen

  6. I love the ring idea! What a perfect reminder all day long to be praying for our loved one!

  7. Thank you for the beautiful message in your blog today and the great ideas that were given. I am praying for my husband and the restoration of our marriage. I will use the scripture that list to pray from. Thank you for sharing your hope in the rubble of things and that we have to keep the faith.

  8. Lucy Munoz says:

    I have a loved one that I have prayed over for the Lord to continue to work in him. It's my husband, he is in the same situation as the loved one you described, my heart breaks for him and for what his choices do to our children. I pray the Lord to continue to work in him and break him free from darkness.

    Thank you for your post today, it really helped me to confirm that the Lord loves my loved one more than I and he is constantly working in him.

  9. Please pray for my husband, Keith. I have been praying for him for over sixteen years now so I can relate to getting tired of praying. Also for my daughter Amanda. She just had a baby, is not married and so needs to surrender her life to the Lord.

  10. As I have been praying over the requests today the verse that comes to mind is "Do not grow weary in well doing, for in due season you will reap if you faint not." I think it is in Galatians or somewhere near the back of the NT!

  11. Anonymous says:

    I love reading your, and "proverbs 31 ministries" daily devotion for a good start of my day. But today you both are a prayer answered.
    Since long, my beloved sister-in-law has an alcohol addiction. (with much more going on)
    I won't and can't tell you much more, but, please, please, she, and her little girl are in desperate need of God.
    Please pray with me that she would open up her heart, because I don't know what to do anymore.
    Please pray for Chantal and Charlotte in Belgium, thank you so much.
    Your sister in Christ,
    Greetje (Belgium)

  12. Please join me in praying for my daughter Christina, that the Lord will send her some "divine appointments" to bring the love, compassion and salvation of Jesus to her! Sometimes, as you mentioned, others outside the family are needed to bring this message of grace to our loved ones.

  13. Anonymous says:

    God is so good! I opened your devotional today and to my surprise the first verse you gave was one I had already rec'd from God this morning for my loved ones. Jere. 31:16-17 I feel this is a confirmation from God. I have 2 sons who I raised in a Christian home. Neither one is serving God. Both are in "stressful" situations in 2nd marriages and with blending children. One is a fireman, one is a police officer. Please pray that they turn their lives over to God and become the men, fathers, and leaders that he wants them to be. Thanks for your encouraging devotional.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Please pray for my son who is wandering from God. He accepted the Lord as a small boy. Found out a few years ago he had been sexually abused as a small boy and has been running and seeking comfort is destructive behaviors, He still knows God but needs to surrender his pain and his life and lay it all down. Please pray for right choices and return to the Lord.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Please pray for my husband that he come to know our loving God again, and that he come back to his family. Thank you

  16. Lynn,
    Thank you for your devotion. I have daughter who continues to struggle with drug addiction since a young teenager, and she's now 31, has 3 children by 3 different men, never married. I struggle with knowing how to love her unconditionally, and help her without enabling her. But I know with God all things are possible.

  17. Anonymous says:

    I read your devotion today and it was right what I needed to read to be encouraged to continue standing in the gap, and it does get tiring! I've been praying for 17 years and I've seen break throughs but he is still very hostile towards God. Please pray for salvation for Terry. We've been divorced a year and I still believe God can save him and restore us. I will add those scriptures to my others and continue to walk in faith. Thank you for using your talent to encourage others.

  18. Please pray for my husband, his name is Pharez, he has gotten involved in an adulterous relationship for about 2 years, has moved out of our matrimonial home, leaving 5 kids behind ages 4 years to 18 years. Pray that his spiritual eyes will be opened and he will turn his life back again to our Lord.

  19. Lynn,
    Thank you for the P31 Devotional today. God is indeed good: I have seen Him restore many lives (including my own), and make beauty out of those ruins!

    When I saw the title of the devo, my spirit immediately remembered Isaiah 51:3. "The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." We are the children of Zion: this promise is for us. Hallelujah! I stand and sing in my garden!

  20. Anonymous says:

    Please pray for my 21 year old daughter. After failing out of the Navy, she feels like a failure and has since made decisions to walk the path of destruction. Being raised as a Christian, she now is running with the wrong crowd and states that there is no God. A mother's worst nightmare. I love her dearly and pray daily for her to come back to the love of our Lord.

  21. Great devo, Lynn. I think we all have someone we are praying for if not many. Thanks for the verses! Trusting in God's faithfulness!!

    Hugs,
    Micca

  22. Anonymous says:

    Last year my 15 year old daughter was acting in church dramas, singing specials, and at last years Easter drama she was filled with the Holy Spirit. However, for the past few months, she has gotten further away from God and now professes an alternative life style. Please pray that she will see the Light and come back to the person she used to be.
    Thank you.

  23. Lord,
    There are so many listed today who are far from You and they represent such a small number. Father, again today, as we do everyday, we commitment our loved one to Your care and ask that you will draw them to Yourself. Send others to speak into their lives. Send divine appointments. Bring an end to the destruction that they are following. Thank you for your faithfulness and may our loved ones know it soon!
    Amen

  24. Lynn, this is so precious to my heart today. This weekend our entire family will be together for a birthday celebration, and the precious loved one in our family who is in desperate need of rescuing will be there as well. Thank you for these reminders, verses and for the hope and promise that nothing is impossible with God.

    This morning at Bible study we watched the sixth DVD in Beth Moore's Esther series. The main theme today was "Reversal of Destiny". No matter how desperate the situation, at any moment God can shift or pivot events around with divine intervention. Beth ended the session by saying, when you put your head on the pillow tonight, you never know what God will do before morning.

    Holding on to hope,
    Joy

  25. Anonymous says:

    I am praying for my husband. He is who I thought of after reading your blog. I sincerely want him to give his life to God, for this is the only way our marriage will be saved. I do believe God can do anything, so I am waiting, praying and fasting. Thank you.

  26. I so needed this today. I grow weary sometimes waiting for God to show my son the way in which he should go. I have not seen or talked to him in over two years, but I still forge ahead and know someday he will return to me restored and renewed. Jeremiah 31:16 is God's promise that comforts me.

  27. Thank you Lynn, beautiful devotion. It is so hard to just give up, but the Lord never gives up on us, so we have to keep praying. My sister has a alcohol addiction. She fell one day, broke her neck and after a slow recovery, lived! What a miracle? If this is not a wake up call, I don't know what is, but it was not for her. She is drinking again, all day, putting herself once again in danger, and I'm still praying, and praying! Thank you for praying for her also.

  28. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for the encouraging words in your devo today. The reminder to "bind" in Jesus' name leapt out at me. It was the 2nd time today that I'd heard that exhortation. Please join me in taking Godly authority over satan and all of the spirits of deception/destruction that are attacking our loved ones. In the name of Jesus they ARE loosed. He did it all that first Easter. Hallelujah!

  29. Thank You for this post. My husband & I are praying for my Brother-in-law & his wife. They are separated. My BIL doesn't realized the severity of the situation. Neither of them realize the impact of not being Christians has had on their marriage. Please pray they will see the need for God in their lives.

  30. God bless you for helping me pray for the Wesoly family,Lyons family,Spaurer family,Earl,Linda,
    Donna and her children….I am so concerned for their souls…my parents are getting old and I fear for them not to receive and believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord & Savior.GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!!

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