Have you ever felt a little nervous when sharing your faith? Did you ever wonder why some people seem to share their faith effortlessly while others struggle with it? That is because the ones that share so easily have the right tools. And when you have the right tools the job is easy! That goes for just about everything. Cooking a meal, building a deck, fixing your car. Even evangelism. So today we are going to get equipped to share our faith WITH CONFIDENCE and to do it naturally and effectively.
Here are some points to help you as you share your faith in Jesus Christ with others. They all start with the letter “P” so P’s be with you.
1. Pray for opportunities – Somewhere, someone is praying that God would send laborers across the path of their loved ones or their neighbors. Right? Jesus said to His disciples that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore pray the the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Thats one of my petitions to the Lord everyday. “Father I know people are out there asking you to send laborers into the harvest. I make myself available as a laborer..”
2. Prioritize – Go throughout your day with this thought on the forefront of your mind, “Who can I talk to and tell about the goodness of God in my life?” I suggest that you even make it a goal for how many people you are going to talk to. It helps with that mental prioritization.
3. Practice what Jesus did.
a. Proximity – Jesus had social contact. Don’t confuse separation with isolation.
Where can we connect socially?
School (Where some spend most of their day)
Work (Where others spend most of their day)
Home (Neighbors)
b. Pinpoint – Jesus found a common talking point. This builds a bridge and allows for meaningful dialogue. People won’t usually be open to talking about spiritual things without building a little bond first. Look for things like activities, work, family, food. Jesus used water at the well with the Samaritan woman.
c. Pilot – Jesus steered the conversation to spiritual matters. All you have to do is listen attentively to peoples conversation and there will be opportunities. You can ask questions. Sometimes I like to catch people with Biblical names off guard with a statement like this. Hi my name is Dino, whats yours? Jacob? Dude you are famous!” When they look at me in amazement I say, “man your name is in the Bible.”
4. Props – The most important P of all of them!!! Give God props! Another way to say it is, give God proper recognition.
Philemon 1:4-6 says
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Now when I read this I saw some things that I never saw before. I knew we were supposed to acknowledge good things. But I never saw it like this. Pay close attention to verse 6. How does it start off? “That the sharing of your faith…” May become what? effective.
Then there is a situation where you are trying to share your faith and it is not effective. God showed me that millions of people have NOT been effective trying to share their faith with others who don’t yet follow Jesus, but Paul is telling us how to make it effective! How? NOT By harping on their sin… NOT By telling them all the rules they need to keep to get to heaven… NO!! By the acknowledgement of every good thing thats in YOU! Yes in YOU! In you. In your life…In your home…In your ministry. In YOU! Tell them your testimony and how good God has been in your life. It’s the goodness of God that leads people to repentance.
5. Probe – Find out where they are in their faith. Depending on where they are in their relationship with the Lord and where you are in your relationship with them you can ask questions like,
“Im not saying that this would happen but if you were to die today, do you know where you would go?”
or
“You and I have been friends for awhile. I sure do enjoy your company and as a friend I wanna be sure we’ll be hanging out in heaven. I’m not saying that this would happen but if you were to die today, do you know where you would go?”
If God were to say, “Why should I let you in?” what would you tell Him?
6. Present – Describe the situation to them.
The Bible Reads:
Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned.”
Romans 6:23 – “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”
Romans 10:13 – “Whosoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”
7. Pray – Don’t ASK the person to pray. Reach out your hand, and say pray with me. If they don’t want to, they’ll say no.
The Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus died on the Cross for me and rose again. I give You my life. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. Amen
It’s really that easy.
