What does the Bible say about praying for others' sins?
Job 1:5
NKJV - 5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did regularly.
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Asked October 23 2024
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Jody Harris
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
The Bible tells us (in the Lord's Prayer, for one example) to forgive the sins others have committed against us on a personal level, so that our own sins may be forgiven by God. However, all sins are ultimately committed against God Himself, and only He has the authority to forgive them on an eternal level. Therefore, I would say that Christians can pray for others to be brought to a recognition of their own sins (and thus to be led to repentance), so that they may seek God's forgiveness on behalf of themselves, but that effort has to be made by them, rather than by others.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Good question, Jody! Leviticus 19:17: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." I.e. NLT “Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin." But before you do the confronting, pray about it. Search your own heart. Ask yourself, "Am I guilty of the same sin(s), some equivalent sin, or some sin that may be even worse?" If the answer is "no," then proceed, then and only then. James 5:14-16: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Also, "...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:18) When you pray, just assume they have committed sins. Everyone does commit sins, even Christians, just not as much as they used to.
Mark Vestal
Supporter
We are told that the sins of the world were forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus Christ at the cross. 2 Cor 5:19 "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." The prayer for others would be that they first come to the realization that they are sinners (as we all are) and in need of God's help. The help we can then offer them is the 'good news' of Christ crucified for us (1 Cor 1:23). Christ died on the cross for the payment of all of their sin debt. He was buried, but rose again for them so that they too may have a new and eternal life in Him, simply by acknowledging (having faith) in what God completed for them at the cross out of His love (1 Cor 15:1-4). 1 Thes 2:13 "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." This is the foundation to build from. The sinner, through the now indwelt Spirit (Eph 1:12-15), will help them in removing the sin from their lives that they struggle with. They will begin to experience the internal "battle" between their desires of the flesh versus the guidance of the Spirit. Rom 7:22-25 "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Believers are in Christ now and may pray with unceasing thanks for the forgiveness of sins that God gave us through Jesus Christ, and for the truth of God's love, who desires all to be saved, to be made manifest (2 Cor 4:5-12). 1 Tim 2:1-6 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
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