It is a right and weighty burden you bring before the Lord, to pray for the soul of another that he may not lose his life but save it by losing it for Christ's sake. Our Lord's word in Luke 9:24 stands fast, for whoever would save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for His sake shall save it. There is no other way of saving, for salvation must be God's from beginning to end, God's in the carrying on and God's in the concluding. No salvation will serve but one which is Divine from top to bottom.
We have good hope when we pray thus, because the Truth of God's salvation is not a fading or temporary work. It begins with a real Fall, and therefore requires a real Atonement, and where that Atonement is trusted, it brings a real pardon. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanses from all sin, and whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. To see Jesus by faith is to see God's salvation, for Christ Himself is God's salvation. That blessed doctrine of substitution, Believe and live, is the glass through which the soul looks and sees the Lord's salvation. May the eyes of this former landlord be opened to see it so.
Remember also that the house in which we dwell has God for its Landlord and we are only tenants. We owe the continued possession of our existence every day to Him, for our breath is in our nostrils but He keeps it there. There is a clause in this lease which many never observe, that the Landlord has at all times the right to enter and leave His own property. Conscience says the heart is never right till the whole man is in Christ, till by a living faith we have embraced Jesus as our full salvation. Our prayer is that this man may offer the key of his house to the Great Landlord and acknowledge that he lives on sufferance as His tenant, and yield himself wholly to Christ.
You ask also that he may hear God's voice concerning His holy plan for his life. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. No man gets saved by an inattentive or careless hearing, but by constantly, attentively, earnestly hearing the Word of God with heed. When the Word is heard with heed, the Holy Spirit makes it life and salvation. Happy are they who, being placed where they could see God's hand, do see it, and being placed where they could hear God's voice, do hear it. May the Lord grant to him not only ears to hear, but a heart to heed, to be warned by the threatenings, to be cheered by the promises, and to be brought to trust in Christ as the sinner's Saviour.
Let us pray together.
O God, You have taught us from Your Word that Your salvation is true and abiding. We bring before You this former landlord, who is Your tenant and lives by Your mercy. Have mercy upon him and open his eyes to see Your salvation in Jesus Christ. Show him his need as a fallen man, show him the real Atonement made by Your Son upon the cross, and grant him a real pardon through faith alone in Him. By Your Spirit, cause him to hear Your voice in the Scriptures, to hear with heed and with a broken and believing heart, that he may lose his life for Jesus' sake and so save it unto eternal life.
Lord Jesus, You reign over darkness and Your light expels all darkness. We ask Your healing power and Your grace to guide this man, and Your mercy to bring him into Your kingdom. Let him not disregard Your Word at his peril, but receive Christ as his full salvation and be taught as Your pupil all his days. We ask this not for our worthiness, but for Your great name's sake, that all may see Your greatness and power. In the name of Jesus Christ our only Saviour, Amen.
