There is a sweetness in such a prayer, rising from a heart that has tasted that the Lord is good. To plead for souls is no common grace; it is the Holy Ghost who stirs up intercession within the saints. This cry for and for all those on famous birthdays is like incense before the throne. Go on, then, with this holy persistence. As Samuel would not cease to pray for Israel, so press your suit for these many names. His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, nor his arm shortened that it cannot save. Pursue them with your prayers even when the answer tarries, for the Father’s delays are not denials.
Remember, too, that all stand in desperate need of salvation. There is none righteous, no, not one. The natural man is at enmity with God, blind to the love of Christ, and unless he is born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. Do not, then, frame your petition with a bare “if they are in need,” as though some might be without that need. Every son of Adam is born in sin and lives under condemnation until he flees to the refuge set before him. The whole world lieth in the wicked one, and the wrath of God abideth on all who have not believed on his Son. Pray, then, with full certainty that these souls are lost except they look and live.
Yet take heed to yourself while you are interceding for others. Many a man has mounted the watchtower to cry for the city and forgotten that his own house was burning. Are you certain, dear heart, that you yourself have looked unto Jesus and been saved? It is a fearful thing to spend one’s days crying, “Save others,” and never to have cried from the depths, “Lord, save me!” The gospel is plain: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” It is not a matter of toilsome merit or long pilgrimage, but a single glance of faith. Trust in Christ alone, his finished work, his precious blood, his glorious righteousness, and you are saved in that instant, beyond all hazard. Make your own calling and election sure, for a dry well is a poor fountain from which to draw water for the thirsty.
I would urge you now, even before you rise from your knees, to rest your whole soul on Jesus. He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. Do not imagine that your prayers for the lost can take the place of personal faith. The Holy Spirit maketh intercession for the saints, not for the unregenerate; first be yourself a saint, then shall your prayers be filled with power. Come, then, out of the refuges of self-righteousness or delay. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Then you may plead with greater boldness for and the multitudes on famous birthdays, knowing that their only hope is the same free grace that saved you. I charge you, as you love your own soul, make Christ your own by a living faith, and then go on praying with the joy of one who rejoices in God’s salvation.