Q.
Is it ever appropriate to stop praying for a person’s salvation or to stop witnessing to a person for their salvation?
Frank
A.
Hello Frank,
Great question! I would assume many have wondered about this. Sometimes an individual seems totally indifferent even after much prayer, love and witness have been poured into them. Some may even become hardened and mean, demanding that they not be spoken to any further.
The only sin that keeps a person out of heaven is the sin of unbelief—not believing on Jesus. Since the Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment to bring people to Christ, it seems the unpardonable sin is when a person resists the Spirit’s conviction one too many times and the Spirit no longer comes back to convict. But only the Spirit knows when an individual has crossed that line.
Since this is the case, we can keep praying and keep witnessing as the Spirit leads. I know of several instances of people continuing to pray for years for unsaved loved ones, witnessing during that period as the Lord led, and seeing the lost on their deathbed finally awakened to their need. I’ve seen this even in a case of one who for years had greatly hindered people’s attempts to speak with him about the Lord but then opened up on his deathbed and came to Christ.
In all of this, both in praying and witnessing, the Spirit can and will lead. As long as the Spirit burdens you, then you know there is hope.
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My wife and her family continued to pray for her grandfather’s salvation from when she was a small child (and even before). He was very hardened and closed. But like you describe, John, when his health was failing to the point where we all thought he was on his deathbed, his heart softened, and he received Christ by faith! This was after over 30 years of sharing and faithful prayer (mostly prayer in the later years). God ended up giving him 2 more years on Earth, and it was a joy to see his life transform significantly in that time.… Read more »
Glorious testimony! Thanks for sharing this!