Expert: John Zalewski - 3/24/2011

Question
Hi John, my friend Sandy isnt a christian and niether is her family. they dont even believe in God or Christ. I just started to pray for their devotion today and ask others to pray to. I just wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to pray for their devotion to and even ask some of your friends and family to pray for them also. I just want to make sure that when Sandy and her family die they to can be welcomed to Gods kingdom and also meet God and Jesus. I would really love to see her and her family up in heaven having a great time and I know God would to. Thank you John, and God Bless You.

Answer
Hello, Blake.

I can pray for Sandy and her family, and it is good that you are also praying. But we have to keep in mind that we cannot get anyone saved. Our prayers, our actions, our works, are not what saves a person. What saves a person is the mercy of God.

God elected certain ones to salvation before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1). Only these had their sins paid for. So, it's really a question of God's will for a particular individual. We just have to trust God and pray that maybe our friends and family members will be saved.

The environment for salvation is the hearing of the Word of God (Romans 10:17). As an unsaved elect person hears or reads the Bible, God can apply the Word to his heart, making him born again. He will then have a strong desire to obey God's Law, which is written in the Bible (Psalm 119:112). (The 'faith' in Romans 10:17 is the faith of Christ, as indicated in Galatians 2:16 and 2:20, not the personal faith of the individual in question.)

So, it is good to pray for your loved ones, but you should also expose them to the Word of God, if they are willing. We're not to force the Bible on anyone (Matthew 7:6). If they are of God's elect, God will save them in His own timetable. Nobody can resist God's will (John 6:37, 44).

I hope this helps.

May God bless you,
John

Ruth 4:18-22: Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,

And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,

And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,

And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,

And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.