Part 3: Praying for the Religiously Deceived

I grew up believing that if I was a good person, God would be pleased with me. I was baptized. I confessed my sins. I went to religious places, attended religious classes, tried to treat people right - check all the boxes and heaven was the natural outcome.

It made sense. That's how everything else in life worked, right? If you do your homework, you get good grades. If you show up to practice, you make the team. If you're a good employee, you keep your job.

So why wouldn't my relationship with God work the same way?

The problem is, it doesn't work that way with God. His ways are so different from ours. And for years, the thought never even crossed my mind.

This same pattern shows up everywhere - good people, sincere people, who genuinely love God and want to please Him. They've been baptized. They confess their sins regularly. They're faithful in church. They serve others. They try hard to live right. And they honestly believe that these good things are what make them acceptable to God.

I'm not talking about people who are faking it or going through religious motions without caring. I'm talking about people whose hearts are in the right place - they just don't realize they're trusting in the wrong thing.

The transaction these good people are counting on: my good life equals God's acceptance. This saves no one. I’ll explain more about this below.

But when I started praying for them, I realized I needed to name this barrier: religious deception.

Praying for the Religiously Deceived - Example

In Part 1, I shared how I started naming barriers in my prayers rather than just saying "Lord, help them know You in a personal relationship." Now let me show you what that looks like when praying for someone who's religiously deceived:

"Father, they love You. They're trying so hard to please You - going to church, serving others, living morally. Their hearts are sincere. They genuinely want to be with you in heaven.

But they don't understand what Jesus actually did on the cross. They think a good life equals Your acceptance. They don't see that the real transaction that saves isn’t between you and them, it was between Jesus and You - His perfect life, His death, His resurrection paying the price they could never pay in a million years of good works. And the only transaction you want from them is their faith in what You did for them.

They're trusting in their own righteousness - baptism, confession, good works. They don't realize that Isaiah says our righteousness is like filthy rags before Your holiness (Isaiah 64:6). Not because their works are bad, but because no amount of human goodness can bridge the gap between us and You.

Isaiah 61 tells us they need to be clothed in Christ's righteousness - a gift freely given through repentance and faith in His completed work. But they're still trying to earn it.

Lord, open their eyes. Let them encounter the finished work of the cross in a way that shifts their trust from themselves to Christ alone."

Biblical Precedent: Nicodemus

When we think about religious deception, Nicodemus comes to mind.

He was a Pharisee - a member of the Jewish ruling council, a teacher of Israel. If anyone had their religious credentials in order, and even the respect of the masses, it was Nicodemus. He knew the Law. He taught others. He was respected, devout, and committed.

But when he came to Jesus at night, something was missing. And Jesus went straight to the heart of it: "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3, NIV).

Nicodemus was confused. "How can someone be born when they are old?" he asked. He was thinking in terms of what he could do - some new religious ritual perhaps? Some higher level of commitment?

But Jesus wasn't talking about doing more. He was talking about a complete spiritual rebirth - something that could only come from God, not from Nicodemus' efforts.

"You are Israel's teacher," Jesus said, "and do you not understand these things?" (John 3:10, NIV).

Nicodemus had spent his life being religious. But he didn't understand grace.

That's the trap of religious deception. You can be sincere, devoted, knowledgeable - and still miss the very thing that saves you. Not because God is hiding it, but because we're so convinced we can earn what He's already offering as a gift.

Why This Matters

So why does it matter that we pray this way for the religiously deceived?

Because when we pray with this kind of compassion, we stop seeing them as arrogant or stubborn. We start seeing them as sincere people who are tragically missing the point - not because they don't care, but because the enemy has convinced them that their own goodness is enough.

It’s one of the most dangerous barriers because it feels safe. It looks right. It's respectable. People affirm it. And the person caught in it genuinely believes they're pleasing God.

When we pray like this, we also position ourselves differently. Instead of arguing with others about works versus grace, we start asking: How can I help them encounter Jesus in a way that shifts their trust? What would it look like to gently expose the gap between their goodness and God's holiness - not to shame them, but to point them to the only One who can bridge that gap?

Maybe it's sharing your own story of how you once trusted in your religious activity until you realized you needed Christ alone to become your righteousness before God. Maybe it's asking questions that help them see the difference between religion and relationship. Maybe it's simply living in the freedom of grace in a way that makes them curious.

Prayer for the religiously deceived isn't just about asking God to open their eyes. It's about asking Him to use us in their processing.

Closing

Religious deception is heartbreaking because these people aren't faking it.

And when we pray for them with compassion - when we name their misunderstanding without judgment - we start to see them the way Jesus saw Nicodemus. Not as an enemy to defeat, but as someone standing at the threshold of grace. In fact, Nicodemus eventually became a true follower of Christ and put himself under the grace of God through Christ alone.

This kind of prayer prepares us for the moment they finally understand the true life Christ is offering them.

Next in this series: Part 4 will explore praying for the resistant - those who know the truth but have closed their hearts to it.

Invitation to the Pilot Devotional - Everyday Evangelism

If you want to go deeper in learning how to engage lost people with confidence and compassion, I've created a 40-day devotional that equips believers to recognize moments of spiritual openness and respond with grace. I'm currently looking for a small group of people to pilot this resource and provide feedback before a wider release - if you're interested in being part of the pilot group, email me at grant.reed@rd2tell.com. The pilot involves 15 minutes of daily reading for 6 weeks, plus one hour of weekly group discussion (virtual is an option).

Author Bio

Grant Reed is the founder of Ready to Tell Ministries and serves as Prayer & Care Director for Marked Men For Christ, a global men's ministry reaching 19,000+ men across 30 countries. He holds an M.Div. and M.A. in Ministry from Southwestern Seminary and is a graduate of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. Grant is a passionate speaker, teacher, and author focused on bringing others to Christ and equipping believers to share their faith with confidence and compassion.