Romans 10:1

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.

In chapters 9-11, Paul is responding with three points to the hypothetical question, “What about Israel?” Paul’s audience might be wondering why Israel, for the most part, has rejected the Messiah. In chapter 9, he explains first that God chooses some and not others. In other words, God is sovereign in salvation. At the very end of chapter 9 and throughout most of chapter 10, Paul explains secondly that Israel failed to believe the Gospel. They rejected the Christ. In other words, man is responsible to believe. And Paul will reveal the third point (the divine decree) in chapter 11. But notice several points in chapter 10, beginning here in v1:

Paul begins, just as he did in chapter 9, expressing his passion for the Jews, that they be saved. He does this, because he has shared some harsh sentiments, and he wants to ensure his audience that he does indeed care about his own countrymen. Though his words to them and about them are hard, he loves them with all of his heart. Notice that Paul prays to God that the Israelites would be saved. Do we pray for loved ones to be saved? Of course we do! Why? Because we know that God is sovereign in salvation, just as chapter 9 explained. God is the only One who can work salvation in an unbelieving human.