Can believers intercede on behalf of nonbelievers?

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I was raised Muslim, and read in the Qur'an that one should never pray for nonbelievers, since no member of the faith, no matter how ardent or obedient, could possibly "convince" God to alter the lot of a sinful person.

Do Christians hold a similar belief? For example, if a Christian woman prays that her atheist father might find Christ, can her prayers actually have an affect on things, or are they entirely in vain?

And, to allude to a narrower topic, do Catholics who believe in Purgatory still hold (as did the medieval church) that living believers can shorten the wait of their deceased loved ones there through prayer and acts of penitence?
 

Sketcher

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I'm a Protestant, so I'm skipping the Purgatory question. We don't have that.

We pray for people to repent and be saved, and this is good. It draws the Christian who prays such prayers closer to the heart of God, and we are taught that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. The spiritual nuts and bolts as to how it makes a difference are not explained, but they are heard by God who answers them according to his wisdom and his goodness.

The only people who claim Christ that teach you're not supposed to pray for people that I know of are the people at Westboro Baptist Church, which is a small church of mostly family members, so inbreeding has probably begun there already. They're infamous for being terrible people who protest people's funerals and say that people who don't agree with their practices are going to Hell. I believe there's a connection to their not praying for people and their overall lack of compassion and decency.
 
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BeStill&Know

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Good question. Most of us probably came to our Savior through prayers of a believer. Also of course the prayers of our brother Christ.
The Bible is rich with such request. These are a few.

Philippians 2:3-4

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.


Deuteronomy 9:18-19

"I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. "For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the LORD listened to me that time also.

Exodus 34:9

He said, "If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession."



Job 42:10

The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold.

Jeremiah 7:16

"As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.



Isaiah 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

1 John 2:1

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

Romans 8:26-27

The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Matthew 5:44

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6:28

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Luke 23:34

But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing " And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

Acts 7:60

Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.
1 Timothy 2:1-2
I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
 
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paul1149

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To continue that last verse:

This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior God, Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. -1Tim 2:3-4​

Having given so much, God wants all men to be saved. The price has already been paid. 1Tim 4.10 tells us that Christ is the Savior of all people.

The entire dynamic of Christ was that He proactively came to a world lost in sin and error. None of us deserved it. All of us need it. "Whosoever will" accept Christ as Lord will be saved, regardless of their history, because the Lord looks on the heart, not the outward appearance (1Sam 16:7). And history shows that often those who seem least likely are the ones most used of the Lord once they convert.
 
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ViaCrucis

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I was raised Muslim, and read in the Qur'an that one should never pray for nonbelievers, since no member of the faith, no matter how ardent or obedient, could possibly "convince" God to alter the lot of a sinful person.

Do Christians hold a similar belief? For example, if a Christian woman prays that her atheist father might find Christ, can her prayers actually have an affect on things, or are they entirely in vain?

There's no reason why a Christian couldn't or shouldn't offer prayers to God for anything/everything/everyone they know. In the liturgy we offer up prayers for the whole world. We come before God for the healing and hope of all.

And, to allude to a narrower topic, do Catholics who believe in Purgatory still hold (as did the medieval church) that living believers can shorten the wait of their deceased loved ones there through prayer and acts of penitence?

Probably. However modern Catholic teaching, as far as I can tell, stresses that Purgatory isn't a location, but a state or experience of preparation for entry into heaven.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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