Prayer for the Ignorant and Naive Toward Spiritual Darkness

“Ignorance is bliss,” said Thomas Gray in 1742 in reference to children who do not yet know the suffering to come in life. Millenia prior, Solomon wrote the parallel, “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow” (Ecc. 1:18, KJV). You would surely agree, the more you know, the more you have to fear. So shall we stay ignorant? Surely not! You already know that the blissful ignorance of the child can lead to great personal harm without the watching eye of the parent.

For children, ignorance is a glad season of life, but for those who can tell their right from their left, ignorance is no longer acceptable. You know from experience that for certain things, “I didn’t know,” will not fly. The policeman will still give you a ticket.

We are continuing our article series, A Call to Prayer During the Halloween Season, and today we are directing our prayer on behalf of those who have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear—the ignorant and naive—those who do not see the reality of the spiritual world.

As has been mentioned in previous articles, our culture is increasingly attracted to the spooky, dark, and wretched. And what’s most scary is the ease and flippancy of so many who participate. They just do not understand, but we are dealing with matters that pertain to life and death. Eternal life and eternal death. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

We must pray that the God who opened our eyes would open the eyes of those around us. We believe that those in darkness will stay in darkness unless the God of light shines into their hearts to see the only way out of the darkness—through Christ (2 Cor 4:6).

Christian, you who are in the light, look around and notice those around you who are still in darkness. Are you ready to pray for your children? Family? Relatives? Neighbors? Coworkers? Fellow church members? Fellow image-bearers in the world?

Pray for the innocently ignorant and direct them to knowledge
Proverbs 22:3 says, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

The mortal danger is that when it comes to spiritual blindness, the suffering is eternal and irreversible. We must warn those around us that the building is on fire, else they will die.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Pr 1:7).

How then will they have a fear of the Lord? “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching” (Rom 10:14)?

Lack of knowledge is indeed a great hindrance to coming to the light, but it is never a valid excuse. “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:19-20). Creation testifies enough to condemn but not to save.

This is what drives us to prayer: people, eternal souls, are surely perishing in their ignorance as the day of judgment nears, but the knowledge of the gospel is freely offered to those who will hear it. Pray that those who do not know the truth would come to know it, and respond when God sends you to preach the gospel to them. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news” (Rom 10:15)!

Pray for the willfully ignorant with humility
Lack of knowledge is only one side of the coin—the other side is that sinful flesh “suppresses the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). It is never simply a lack of knowledge that keeps people in darkness. Satan is hard at work “[blinding] the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor 4:4). Both the devil and corrupted humanity fight and desire to stay in darkness.

We pray for these people because no amount of human willpower is able to make the dead come to life. Salvation is truly the miraculous work and gift of God (Eph 2:1-9). There is absolutely no other way to move from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light without the gracious hand of God performing the miracle (Col 1:13-14; 2:13).

It’s possible to forget and underestimate just how dead we were and what a miracle it is that God made us alive. This is why we pray with humility for those who are ignorant and naive. We do not save, God saves. Recognize that at one time you too walked in the passions of the flesh and were ignorant of the ways of God, and yet he showed you mercy and grace.

Conclusion
As we see people around us celebrate darkness, may we not look down upon them as ignorant fools, but may we realize that at once we were in the same ship of ignorance headed toward the abyss. May we be driven to our knees in prayer for boldness to then jump to our feet and proclaim the gospel that is able to “make [one] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:15).

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"Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace."
Psalm 37:1-11