EVANGELISM AND PRAYER

With mission trips coming up and classes stirring, a lot of people keep talking about how to share the gospel. Many methods have been given, conversations on the topic have been had, and yet it is still such a hard thing to do. It can be difficult to know where to start.

Currently, I am reading a book called Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out by Alvin Reid. This book makes the statement that, “you can’t evangelize effectively on a consistent basis without prayer.” Evangelism is a gift that has been given to us. God chose to advance His Kingdom through His people. He doesn’t need us, but He decided to prepare good works for us for the glorification of His name. But it isn’t something that we can do apart from Him. It isn’t something our flesh just naturally does. So we pray:

• For boldness to witness (Acts 4:24-31, and to be ready to give an account)
• In the Spirit’s power (Ephesians 6: 18-20, “prayer is seen as an indispensable part of the armor of God”)
• For harvesters to join you (Matt 9:38, the work is plenty but we can’t do it alone. Pray for other believers to awaken to the need of the world for the gospel)
• For those who need Jesus

How do we pray for those who need Christ?

1. Ask God to open their spiritual eyes (2 Cor 4:4)
2. Ask God to give them ears to hear (Matt 13:15), faith believe (Acts 20:21), and a will to respond (Rom 10:9)
3. Ask God to send people into their lives to witness to them (Matt 9:38)
4. Ask God for ways to build caring relationships (1 Cor 9:22)
5. Ask God for an opportunity to invite them to an event where the gospel is shared (Luke 14:23)

“Spiritual work like witnessing needs spiritual power. God uses both the spiritual resources he’s made available to you through a new birth and the talents, gifts, and passions he formed in you.”

So the best place to start with witnessing is in prayer. Maybe you want to care more about those who are far from God. Pray. Maybe you want to more readily see the opportunities that God places in front of you each day. Pray. We are fully reliant on the power of God and His Word to transform the lives of those we speak with and encounter.

As we hear about the 60,000+ people in Mt. Pleasant who are far from God, it can seem overwhelming, or it can seem like only the professionals are called to share the good news. But my prayer is that all of our hearts would fill with compassion for those far from God. That our hearts would overflow with truth and love for them. That we would fall on our knees daily for those that we personally know are far from God and for those that we don’t know.

One of my favorite quotes from that book is a simple prayer that can be prayed daily:

“God give me today an opportunity to speak with someone about Jesus, the wisdom to see it, and the courage to take it.”