Praying for Those Who Bow to Idols
Month 5: What About Other Religions? · Loving Others
Today's Scripture
Read together: Romans 10:1-4
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. 3 Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.
Memory Verse
“Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.””— Acts 4:12 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Deuteronomy 23-25
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 133 of 365 — laws full of practical kindness: leave grain for the poor, return what's lost, treat workers fairly.)The Heart of It
Paul is talking about his own people, the Israelites. They had rejected Jesus. Paul could have been angry. Instead, listen to his heart: "my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." Then he says something we should never forget about people in other religions. He says, "they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." That means many people who follow false gods are not lazy or stupid or evil. They are sincere. They really want God. They're just looking in the wrong place. Paul doesn't sneer at them. He aches for them. And the first thing his aching heart does is pray.
That's how disciples love people who believe differently. Not with eye-rolls. Not with fear. We love them with prayer that flows from a soft heart. You can be completely right about Jesus and completely wrong about how you treat people who haven't found Him yet. So here is the gentle challenge for our family. Do we actually pray for the people around us who follow other religions, or who follow no God at all? Praying for someone changes the way you see them. You stop seeing an opponent to defeat. You start seeing a person God loves and Jesus died for. When your heart's desire is that they "may be saved," two things grow at once. Your words to them get kinder, and your courage to share gets stronger.
Around the Table
Some people pray to gods that aren't real. But Paul didn't get mad at them. He prayed for them. We can pray for people too!
Let's do it: Think of one person who doesn't know Jesus. Say their name to God right now: "Please help ____ to know You."
Paul said people can have a "zeal for God" but be looking in the wrong place. They really mean it. They are just wrong about where to look.
Let's talk: How does praying for someone change the way you feel about them?
Paul shows us how to disagree with love. He holds a deep belief that Jesus is the only way. He also holds a deep, aching love for the people who don't believe it yet. We need both, not just one.
Let's go deeper: Is there anyone you've quietly written off instead of prayed for? What would it look like to pray for them this week?
💬 Conversation Starter
Say your best friend was walking toward a cliff in the fog. Would you stay quiet, or would you call out? And would you call out angrily, or kindly? Praying for people who don't know Jesus, and warning them, is what love does.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
People in other religions are usually sincere, not silly. Many have "a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." So we honor how much they mean it. We pray for them, and we gently point them to the truth ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
is a gut-check for every father who has spent this month learning why other religions fall short. Knowing in your head that Christ is the only way can quietly curdle into contempt for people who don't agree. Paul refuses that. He holds airtight conviction and a breaking heart in the same chest. And the conviction fuels the compassion rather than cooling it. Sean McDowell observes that the next generation is far more persuaded by Christians who love their opponents than by Christians who merely out-argue them. So ask yourself a hard question. Do my kids hear me pray for the Muslim coworker, the atheist uncle, the Mormon neighbor, by name? Or do they only hear me criticize them? Build a family prayer list of specific people far from Christ. A home that prays for the lost is a home raising witnesses, not warriors.
Draws on: Sean McDowell, A Rebel's Manifesto.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, give us Your heart for people who follow other gods. Not anger, but love. We pray by name for those we know who don't yet know Jesus. Save them, Lord. Make us bold and kind. In Jesus' name, amen."
The people I disagree with most are the people I should pray for most.