By Kyle Welch
There’s no “I” in prayer.
For many Christians, the plain truth is that the work of evangelism can be a daunting task – especially because it often feels like that work is embarked upon alone. Perhaps for many, the work of sharing their faith with a person who doesn’t yet believe in Jesus can feel like delving into a cave on their own with only a single headlamp for light. You don’t know what’s ahead of you, and you certainly don’t know if you’re going to make a critical misstep somewhere along the way!
Wouldn’t it be great, then, if we didn’t have to dive into that cave alone? What if we had an entire team of people with us, with headlamps shining the way for each other?
What we must remember is that we don’t have to go through this work alone. Once we remove the burden of feeling like someone’s decision for Jesus is dependent entirely upon us, the task begins to feel far less daunting and far more invigorating. Therefore, when we begin our BLESS practice by praying for a person to accept the gospel, we can also pray that others would appear to share their faith as well.
When we pray, we should first seek the Lord’s help to open an opportunity to share. In Colossians 4:2-3, it says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ….” When we ask the Lord to open a door for us, we can engage in those evangelistic conversations with confidence, knowing that He will supply openings for us to share our faith.
What’s more, we can also pray that others would come alongside us to help us share our faith with that person. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Takeaway
Just like Jesus asks us, we should pray to the Lord to supply people who can share their faith alongside of us. In this way, the daunting task of sharing our faith becomes a chance to see the church working together as a healthy community.
One Response
Amen! As I’ve grown older (physically AND spiritually) I’m learning how often I thought there was a prayer formula. My “answer” came to.me in the form of a song. One line of that song is “He looked beyond my fault and saw my need”. God has used that to teach me that a persons salvation is God’s job (which we cannot do) and my job is to “love God, love people and share Jesus”. As I walk this path of life my eyes are “clearing up”. When I gave up trying to find the formula God showed me there isn’t one. I just look for the “need” people in my circle have and get to know them well enough to “earn the right” to bless them through the life God has so richly blessed me with. All of that is undergired with prayer for God to use me as He leads me to people in need. And aren’t we ALL in need!