6 STEPS TO FAMILY SAVED
One of the most common prayer requests I hear wherever I preach is a parent asking for their child to be saved, or a child asking for their parents to be saved. I prayed ONCE for my unsaved loved ones and within a year, nearly everybody in my immediate family was saved.
Normally when someone asks me to pray for their unsaved loved ones, I ask, “Have you ever bound Satan from blinding their eyes?” I can safely say 90% of the time, the response is a blank look and a hesitant “no, am I supposed to?”
This is such an important prayer request, I want you to take the time to digest the following Scriptures before praying any more about your family. I also challenge you to stop saying your family member is “stubborn, set in their ways, or hard-headed.” Your words really have much more power than you realize. If you want them saved, stop seeing them the way they were. Once you read and fully understand below, then pray with confidence once and for all. I believe you will see a change, just as I have. I declare over you that “as for you AND your house, you will all serve the Lord!”
– Pastor Steve Cioccolanti
1 John 5:14-1 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Know first that God’s Word is God’s will. God’s Word tells us…
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God wants everyone to be saved!
1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.When we pray according to God’s Word, we can pray according to God’s Will!
Know secondly the unsaved are victims of satan…satan is blinding their eyes
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The “strongholds” set up against the unsaved are called “imaginations” (the margin of a good reference Bible says, “reasonings”), “high thing” (knowledge) and “thought.” The Word of God, authoritative prayer and words spoken in love can bring down these strongholds.
STEP 1: Bind the spirits that bind the truth – loose the spirit of the unsaved.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Matthew 18:18-19 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Say once and for all, “Satan, get your hands off my (name your unsaved loved one)! I break your power over _________’s life in Jesus’ Name! I claim ________’s full deliverance and salvation! They belong to God!”
STEP 2: Pray for ears to hear and eyes to see spiritual truth
Matthew 13:14-16 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Say, “I pray for _____’s eyes to see and for _____’s ear to be open to the truth.”
STEP 3: Pray for their heart to be good ground (soft & ready) to the Truth of the Gospel.
Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Say, “I pray for _______’s heart to be soft and ready ground for the Gospel. I pray that ________ has an honest and good heart, and when (he/she) hears the Word of God, (he/she) will also be a doer of it and patiently study it and put it to practice.”
STEP 4: Pray that the Lord of the Harvest sends laborers across their path
Matthew 9:37-3 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
If you have not already found out, you will probably find out soon that most people who are close to you (especially your own family) do not want to listen to you. They are not about to admit that you know something they don’t! Do not worry. God has other laborers who are more “neutral” than you. Pray that God sends them out to your family and/or friends.
Say, “Lord, You said in Your Word to ask the father to send laborers into the harvest. I am asking the Father in Jesus’ Name to send laborers across ____’s path. May the laborers be honest, full of wisdom and full of the Holy Ghost. Surround ____ with the Gospel for the next 30 days (or longer), so they will see how much You love them!”
STEP 5: Give thanks to God for the answer!
Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing (don’t fret, worry or have any anxiety about anything); but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
It’s easy to thank God after you’ve seen the answer. But it takes faith to thank God before you see the answer! Hebrews 11:6 says, Without faith it is impossible to please God.Thank God by faith! Any time you think of your loved ones from now on, do not pray for them to be saved again, just thank God He’s heard and answered your prayer!
STEP 6: Be ready to lead someone to the Lord!
Be ready to share Jesus with someone who is interested. You may be the laborer someone is praying for God to send out! Tell the person that God’s requirements are that everyone repent and believe in His Son’s sacrifice for them. You must repent not from a few of your sins, while holding on to others, but you must repent of all your sins. Then you turn to God for help by: 1) believing in your heart that Jesus is God, and 2) saying with your mouth that Jesus died and rose again for you!
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (that Jesus is the Lord, Son of God), and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Sample prayer: “Dear Lord Jesus, I repent for all my sins and I’m sorry for hurting You. I want to thank You for dying on the cross to take away my sins, and I believe You rose again from the dead to give me new life. Today I believe you are the Son of God. I call Jesus my Lord and Savior. I am now a Christian, a born again child of God! Thank You for accepting me, in Jesus’ Name! Amen”
Amen means “I believe” or “so be it”!
Welcome the person into the Family of God and encourage them to:
1) read the Bible
2) attend a Bible-based church
3) stop hanging out with people who drag them down or pull their faith down.