Prayers of salvation are scripted in the Bible, as several incidents have led to such prayers being offered. These prayers were primarily raised to seek rescue by men from God to save them from the hands of the enemies, and they were essential for certain people to pray based on their circumstances.
Prayers For Salvation In The Bible
In this article, it is pertinent to cite the cases of prayers of salvation by some characters to boost the faith of present-day Christians. It will further explain the historical background, scriptural references, and scope of the need to pray for salvation.
Salvation prayers were carried out by biblical characters who understood the impact, significance, potency, and essence of prayers of salvation and deliverance. On each occasion, God showed his magnificent powers physically and spiritually.
1. David’s Prayer For Salvation
King David was the King Of Isreal after God rejected King Saul. He is known to be a man after God’s heart because he dearly sought to please God at all costs. An outstanding attribute that endeared him to God was his sober spirit whenever he was admonished over his sins, and he always praised and worshiped God.
King David always sought God’s face whenever he faced trial and temptation because he had a lot of adversaries and was always at war.
His Prayer of Salvation and Deliverance can be seen in;
Psalm 7 Verse 1
O Lord my God, in you I put my trust; save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me
Other prayers of salvation and deliverance of King David are found in the following scriptures;
Psalm 17:1, Psalms 25:2-3, Psalm 26:1, Psalm 28:1, Psalm 32:7, Psalm 43:1, Psalm 51:12, Psalm 54: 1-3, Psalm 57:1, Psalm 61:1-4, Psalm 69:13, Psalm 70:1-3, Psalm 71:1-4, Psalm 79:1, Psalm 88:1, Psalm140:1, Psalm 141: 1-3, Psalm 143:1
2. Jesus’s Prayer For Salvation And Deliverance
Jesus Christ, while on earth, also prayed for salvation and deliverance. Even while he knew that he was the sacrificial lamb that was to be slain to blot away the sins of the world, he was weak and called upon God in the scriptures below;
Matthew 26:37-39;42-44
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee , and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 3. Isrealite’s Prayer of Salvation And Deliverance
3. Prayer For Salvation From Bondage
The biblical record in Genesis Chapter 46 states that Jacob and his entire family went to permanently settle in Egypt during the great seven years famine on the invitation of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his stepbrothers in Genesis Chapter 39 and rose to the position of Prime Minister in Genesis Chapter 41.
Jacob’s sons traveled to Egypt to buy corn during the great famine. They couldn’t recognize their younger brother, Egypt’s Prime Minister, out of Providence. Joseph forgave them as he posited that it was the will of God for his brothers to sell him into slavery so that he would preserve them during the famine and asked that all of them join him in Egypt.
Eventually, the descendants of Jacob, called the Israelites, were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty, and the land of Egypt was filled with them. The Egyptians were afraid of their numbers, wealth, progress, and strength. The Egyptians began to deal with the Israelites shrewdly so they won’t multiply.
The Egyptians set up taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. The Egyptians made their lives bitter with hard bondage and engaged the Israelites with all manner of hard labor.
The Children of Isreal prayed for Salvation and Deliverance to God in the hands of Pharaoh the King of Egypt in the book of;
Exodus 2:23
Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage , and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
4. Hannah’s To Be Saved From Barrenness
There was a man named Elkanah, the son of Jeroham. He married two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. While Peninnah had children, Hannah had no children.
Peninnah, her rival, provokes her and makes her feel miserable every year as they go to Shiloh because she has no child.
Hannah was so bitter after the taunting of her co-wife. Her soul was agitated, and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish for salvation and deliverance from the spirit of barrenness.
1 Samuel 1:11
Then she made a vow and said , “O Lord of hosts , if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me , and not forget Your maidservant , but will give Your maidservant a male child , then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life , and no razor shall come upon his head.”
5. Prayer To Be Saved From Plague
The historical background of the plague is that King David ordered Joab, the Commander of his army, to conduct a census amongst the people of Isreal and Judah. This act angered God, and David had sober reflections on it.
God sent Prophet Gad to King David to choose one out of three calamities. He chose three days of the plague from God, and seventy thousand men died as a punishment for his sins.
David offered the prayers of salvation and deliverance alongside a burnt offering on an altar built in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite to avert the anger of God as posited in the book of;
2 Samuel 24:17
Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.
6. King Hezekiah’s Prayer For Salvation
King Hezekiah witnessed the besieging and taking over of the fortified cities of Samaria by King Shalmaneser and encroachment towards Judah by King Sennacherib, all Kings Assyria. In a bid to stop the further destruction of Judah by the King, Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the King’s house.
Notwithstanding, King Sennacherib threatened and refused to yield despite collecting the treasures. He boasted of the power of his gods, who had never failed to conquer territories for him. He wrote a letter of his conquering plans to King Hezekiah.
On receiving the letter, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord, placed the note on the alter and offered a prayer of salvation and deliverance in the book of;
2 Kings 19:15-19
Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth……… Now, therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”
7. Prayer Of Salvation From A Fierce Battle
The Israelites faced defeats in battles. Small nations will conquer them to their amazement. They cried to God to deliver and save them from constant failure in the book of;
Psalm 79: 1-13
O God , the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; They have laid Jerusalem in heaps………So we , Your people and sheep of Your pasture , Will give You thanks forever; We will show forth Your praise to all generations.
8. Job’s Prayer Of Salvation From The Affliction Of Satan
Job is characterized in the Bible as a man who never sinned despite the tribulations he encountered. Satan further argued that Job would curse God if he were tormented. He added that Job is only faithful because he is surrounded by splendor and riches. Satan took permission from God to haunt him so that he could prove God wrong that Job was not as Just as God proclaimed.
Job’s family died mysteriously. He had health issues. His wife left him and advised him to curse God and die instead of living on earth shamefully. His friends detested and accused him wrongly, yet Job never sinned.
Job finally raised his voice in prayers of salvation and deliverance to God in the book of;
Job Chapter 17:1-16
My spirit is broken , My days are extinguished , The grave is ready for me………. Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust?”
9. Nehemiah’s Prayer of Salvation
Hanani, one of the brothers of Nehemiah, visited him from Judah, and he asked about the welfare of the Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity and about the great city of Jerusalem.
They responded that the survivors in captivity in the province were in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.
When Nehemiah heard these words, he sat down, wept, fasted, and prayed for many days before the God of heaven.
This prayer of salvation and deliverance is captured in the following;
Nehemiah 1:5-11
I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments……….O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.
10. Jonah’s Prayer of Salvation
God commanded Prophet Jonah to go and preach to the people of Nineveh to repent of their sins, as he would destroy them if they did not repent. He left for Joppa to travel to Tarshish by ship. A great storm arose in the sea. The mariners were afraid, and everyone on the boat cried out to his God and threw the cargo in the ship into the sea to lighten the load.
Finally, they cast Lots to know the reason for their calamity. The Lot fell on Jonah, and he accepted that he was the cause of the trouble as he requested to be thrown into the sea for the rage to subside and guarantee their safety.
They cried out to the Lord not to let them perish for Jonah’s life and that his innocent blood should not be on their head.
The rage calmed as Jonah landed in the sea, and a big fish swallowed Jonah. He was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights. There, he offered a prayer of salvation and deliverance as vested in the book of;
Jonah Chapter 2:1-9
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly…….. But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
11. Isreal’s Prayer To Be Saved From Exile
The faithful remnant prays confidently for deliverance in Isaiah Chapter 64.
It starts with an appeal to the Lord to step in and deliver his people in his typically mighty manner. Their faith is founded on the Lord’s outstanding prior acts of power, and they remember the Lord’s deeds. However, even though they were guilty, they could still turn to God since he was their Father and Creator through His grace, and he would change their situation.
According to the prayer, the exiled people should repent as a nation before God, comparable to Isaiah 53.
Here, they ask the Lord to come and end their suffering using a decisive intervention. He had not ultimately rejected Israel, even though people rebelled against him through idolatry and wickedness and brought exile upon themselves.
Some leftovers would come back, but before he would release them from the effects of sin if the people were to be a part of that remnant, they had to acknowledge their guilt and seek deliverance.
12. The Early Church Prayer Of Salvation
King Herod killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he held Peter during the days of unleavened bread. Peter was imprisoned, but the church prayed in Acts chapter 12 for his salvation and deliverance.
While Peter was sleeping in prison bounded, an angel of the Lord stood by Peter, and a light shone in prison, struck him on the side, and raised him while his chains fell off his hands. The angel ordered him to wear his clothes, tie his sandals, and follow me while Peter thought it was a vision, but it was reality.
13. Paul And Silas’ Prayer Of Salvation
Paul and Silas delivered a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination often used by her masters to make money by fortune-telling. When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities, and accused them of making trouble, teaching strange doctrines, and introducing new customs.
The people beat them, tore their clothes, and sent them to prison. But at midnight, Paul and Silas, in Acts 16:25, were praying for their salvation and deliverance and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, and the prison’s foundations were shaken. Immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were loosed.
14. Jehosaphat’s Prayer of Salvation And Deliverance
The people of Moab, with the people of Ammon and others, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. This great multitude of armies made Jehoshaphat fear, and he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah.
In 2 Chronicles 20: 6-12, Jehoshaphat offered his prayers of salvation and deliverance as he stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court.
15. Jeremiah’s Intercessory Prayer Of Salvation
In Jeremiah 17:14-18
Prophet Jeremiah cried to God to deliver and save him from shame and those persecuting him. Let the enemies be dismayed, bring on them the day of doom, and destroy them with double destruction.
Jeremiah Chapter 42: 1-4
Prophet Jeremiah the prophet accepted to pray an intercessory prayer of salvation and deliverance for God to deliver the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people of Isreal and Judah that were in captivity in the land of Babylon ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar.
16. Simeon’s Prayer For Salvation
It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he witnessed the birth of the coming Christ. The Holy Spirit led him into the temple where the parents brought in the Child, Jesus, to perform customary rites on him according to the custom of the law, and Simeon uttered the prayers of salvation in Luke 2.
17. Esther’s Prayer For Salvation From Haman
This prayer is encapsulated in the book of Esther, Chapter 4
Haman conspired to kill Mordecai because he refused to bow and pay homage to him when King Ahasuerus promoted him above Princes. Haman transferred the aggression to include all the Jews. He asked the King to make a Decree to kill anybody who would not keep the law of the land, knowing that it would contradict the Jews.
Mordecai told Queen Esther to intercede on other people’s behalf as she was King Ahasuerus’s wife. It was taboo to appear before the King if he had not summoned you, but you could be spared if he showed his golden sepulcher. Queen Esther and her people embarked on a three-day fast for God to save them from the hands of Haman by making it possible for the Queen to appease the King to change his mind about implementing the decree.
18 Jacob’s Prayers Of Salvation
Jacob ran away from the anger of his brother Esau after he treacherously got rid of his birthright. After many years, a time came when Jacob had to meet his brother, but he was so afraid that Esau would kill his family. Out of fear, he had to divide his family to go separate ways in case his fears actualized; then, some people would escape the calamity.
Jacob, in fear of death, prayed to God for salvation and deliverance in Genesis 32:11
Deliver me, I pray from the hands of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he comes and attacks me and the mother with the children.
