May 7, 2025

Our God Loves To Save!

I want to follow yesterday’s post with three encouraging facts regarding God’s desire to save the lost and restore prodigals. As you think and meditate on these truths, not only will they encourage you, but your faith will grow, causing your prayers to be more powerful. In later posts, we will teach specifically on how to pray for the unsaved.

FACT #1: God Desires that Everyone Be Saved

The beginning point of faith is to know God’s will - what He desires and has said. Regarding unbelievers, the Scriptures tell us He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 KJV). We don’t have to wonder about God’s desire or willingness regarding the lost; He could not have made His will any clearer. The Lord wants every person to believe upon Christ and be born again.

FACT #2: God Is Able to Save

He CAN deliver and save. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save” (Isaiah 59:1). 

Not only is God willing to save the lost, He is capable of doing so. He has sufficient power and knows how to bend, shape, and change the perspective of unbelievers, bringing them to a revelation of Himself. Holy Spirit can break off every satanic stronghold and bring them to a knowledge of the truth. Allow the following story to encourage you:

“While hitchhiking home, Roger Simms was picked up by an older gentleman in an expensive car. They talked about many things, including Mr. Hanover’s business in Chicago. Roger felt a strong compulsion to share his faith, but was apprehensive about witnessing to a wealthy businessman. Finally, nearing his destination, Roger spoke up.

“‘Mr. Hanover, I want to share something very important with you.’ 

“He explained the way of salvation and asked if Mr. Hanover would like to receive Christ as his Savior. To Roger’s astonishment, the businessman pulled over to the side of the road, bowed his head, wept, and prayed the prayer of salvation. He thanked Roger, saying, ‘This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.’

“Five years later, while in Chicago on a business trip, Roger went to Hanover Enterprises. The receptionist told him it would be impossible to see Mr. Hanover, but Mrs. Hanover was available. A little disappointed, he followed her into an office.

“After exchanging greetings, Roger explained how Mr. Hanover had kindly given him a ride years ago. Suddenly interested, Mrs. Hanover asked when this had happened. When Roger told her it was on May 7, five years earlier, she asked if anything unusual had happened during his ride.

“Roger hesitated, wondering if giving his witness had been a source of contention. But, feeling the prompting of the Lord, he told her that he had shared the gospel message and that her husband had accepted the Lord into his heart.

“She began sobbing uncontrollably. After a few minutes, she explained that she had thought her prayers for her husband’s salvation had not been answered. After leaving Roger at his destination, Mr. Hanover had died that day in a horrible head-on collision.”(1)

God is faithful! He knows how to unlock people’s hearts, how to convince them of their need and Christ’s provision, and when the time is right for them to be presented with the opportunity. And this certainly does not have to occur in a house of worship. God knows when to orchestrate hitchhikers’ travel home; He can cause unbelievers to drive the right highway, at the right time, and can motivate them to pick up the “evangelist.” God knows what He is doing!

Don’t miss the fact that Mrs. Hanover had been praying for her husband’s salvation. Our prayers release God’s power; never forget this. (I will teach on this later in this series.)

FACT #3: Christ’s Very Name Is Savior

Another faith-building truth is Christ’s very name. “And you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

“Jesus” comes from the Hebrew word Yehoshua, from which we also get Yeshua. Both names mean “Jehovah/Yahweh is salvation,”(2) originating from yasha, which means “save”.(3) Christ is called Yeshua because He is the Savior. Think about that: Jesus chose to name Himself, “the Lord who saves.” He wanted no confusion, no ambiguity, no doubt as to His heart and desire.

I like to imagine the conversation that may have occurred as the Godhead was planning our salvation: After discussing the unimaginable truth that Christ would have to become a human, suffer, and die to redeem us, the Father asks Christ: “What name shall we have people call you when you become human, Son? Most High? Creator? Omnipotent One? Everlasting God?…”

Perhaps pausing to consider the question, the Lord simply replies, “Let’s not complicate it. I just want them to know I’m coming to save them from the Fall, from the curse of their sins. Just have them call me Jesus, Yeshua, ‘Yahweh who saves.’ In fact, let’s just shorten it to ‘Savior’”.

And that’s what they did. 

The angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11)

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10).

The Greek word for Savior adds further insight. It is soter, meaning “a deliverer that is God.”(4) It comes from sozo, meaning “save, rescue, deliver, or make whole.”(5) Whether it be Hebrew or Greek, Jesus proudly wears this name as His title! He loves to save! He WILL save your loved one, your friend, your neighbor!

Charles Finney shared the following testimony of a father who came to a realization of the Lord’s intense desire to save his family:

“I knew a father who was a good man, but who had misconceptions about the prayer of faith. His whole family of children had grown up, without one of them being converted. One day, his son grew ill and seemed ready to die. The father prayed, but the son grew worse and was sinking into the grave without hope. The father prayed until his anguish was unutterable. There seemed no prospect of his son surviving, so he poured out his soul as if he would not be denied.

“Then, He received an assurance that not only would his son live, but he would be converted. God also assured him that not only this son, but his whole family would be saved. He came into the house and told his family his son would not die. They were astonished at him. ‘I tell you,’ he said, ‘he will not die. And no child of mine will ever die in his sins.’ Sure enough, the son lived, and the man’s children were all converted.”(6)

Believe in the heart and power of the Savior! What He did for this father, He will do for you. Tomorrow, we will look at a few more passages of Scripture that will build our faith as we pray for unbelievers.

Pray with me:

Father, we pray today that faith will arise in the hearts of believers throughout the world. Awaken faith in them that You want to see people saved, and that You are well able to do so. You are mighty to save.

We pray today for those who don’t know You. We ask You to awaken unbelievers to their need of You, and to Your provision and love. We release Holy Spirit’s power to break every stronghold and frustrate every strategy satan is using to keep them deceived and bound. We loose them from all demonic control and all deception. 

We prophesy to the wind of Holy Spirit: blow on the dry bones, giving them life (Ezekiel 37). Save and deliver them, in the name of Yeshua. Release Your power, revelation, and salvation. Send the appropriate believers to share with them. Pour out Your Spirit in homes, on campuses, in our churches – do it everywhere. We ask for this not just here in America, but around the world. 

All of this we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that “the Lord who saves” is coming with another wave of revival to redeem a billion people here in America and around the world. 

Today’s post is adapted from my book How to Pray for Lost Loved Ones, published by Baker Books. 

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. Alice Gray, Stories for the Heart (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1996), pp. 225-257.

2. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 3091.

3. Ibid. Ref. no. 3467.

4. Ibid. Ref. no. 4990.

5. Ibid. Ref. no. 4982.

6. Charles G. Finney, How to Experience Revival (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1984), p. 58.