But Agrippa did answer: “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!”

29 Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”

30-31 The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, “There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.”

32 Agrippa told Festus, “He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested the hearing before Caesar.” (The Message)

A refrain of an old hymn goes:

‘For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
I’m praying for you.’

It is a song, by Samuel O’Malley Cluff, about praying for lost people. The last verse says:

‘ When He has found you, tell others the story,
That my loving Saviour is your Saviour, too;
Then pray that your Saviour may bring them to glory,
And prayer will be answered- ’twas answered for you!’

It seems that, in effect, King Agrippa quipped, ‘Do you think you can make me a Christian in such a short time?’ Paul’s answer was that whether it took a short or long time, his prayer for Agrippa – and everyone in the room that day – was that they would come to share his faith (but not his chains).

We are faced with the privilege and responsibility of praying for unbelievers. For whom are we praying?