Lord Almighty, I hasten to the comfort of Your presence. Only You can cure the unceasing sorrow my heart harbors for those that I love, those who remain ignorant of the truth. The sight of their shackles of deception break my heart not nearly as much as it must break Yours. Help me keep that truth in perspective lest I become prey to the foolish notion that You do not hear my prayers on their behalf. Truly, we are all powerless against the shadows of depravity that blind us to Your light. A blindness that too many have grown comfortable in to the point that the light hurts too much. Lord, if necessary, drive Your people into a corner until they know through experience that they need You. Let me not relent in agonizing prayer for those that I love who are lost and deaf to Your Word, choosing instead their own path of destruction rather than the path of life You offer. My intercessory cries become my offer, Lord. I yield to You until You lend a hand. I remain steadfast on behalf of those I love because You steadfastly pursued me. Though many wallow in sin and foam with enmity against You, Lord God, I will heed Your command to bring them to You in prayer regardless of my impatient soul becoming frustrated with lack of visible results. Truly, You not only look upon the heart, Lord Jesus; You alone can touch it, move it and shake it up. You alone can empty the selfish contents of a rebellious soul, making room for the housing of Your Holy Spirit. So I come to You, my Lord and Savior, but I do not come alone. In prayer, I bring with me the lost sheep of Your pasture, those souls wounded by the enemy, ensnared in blind, selfish ambivalence that is slowly destroying them. Prayerfully, I lay them at Your feet until You breathe new life into them the same way you did for me. Jesus, You are the author of life, the Good Shepherd, the Savior of the world. Under the Word of life in Jeremiah 50:6-7 and the authority of Christ Jesus, I pray.

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’”
Jeremiah 50:6-7, ESV