Every believer in Christ is directly charged by Jesus to make disciples. Yet many Christians struggle to share their faith even with close non-Christian friends.
Perhaps they feel they lack the necessary Bible knowledge to answer questions. Some have been embarrassed by the worldview that regards Christianity as a spiritual crutch for weak-minded people. Some are just shy. For many, the only relationships they have outside the workplace are with other Christians. Jesus did not call us to be tribal, but to be His hands extended to reach the lost with the love of God.
The Great Commission did not leave us with any wiggle room by which we can avoid the obligation to show others the way to everlasting life. We must learn how to be effective in presenting the gospel message to those who are perishing. Praying for You: Relational Prayer Evangelism is a powerful methodology by which we can assist our churches in reaching out to rescue the lost.
After being introduced to this approach at a pastor’s prayer retreat last fall, I was anxious to obtain the DVD series from CBNW at our association’s Church Health clinic. Our leadership team reviewed the materials and launched the first round of training in February 2005 with our Sunday evening Bible study group. Very good things began to happen almost immediately.
In the weeks that preceded the training, we encouraged our congregation that evangelism is the job of every Christian. They agreed. Each of us knows people who need Jesus. That agreement caused our evening group’s size to triple as many people from the church wanted to participate in the training.
People immediately began to implement Praying for You with friends and associates. Within the first week we began to see results that were nothing short of amazing. Individuals who had shown no interest in spiritual matters at all were glad to know that there were Christians who cared and would pray for them on a regular basis. God began to answer those prayers and every week opportunities arose to share the Good News.
Not only did we begin to pray more often and more directly for the salvation of those we know and love, but we entered into one-on-one prayer relationships that have us meeting to pray together on a weekly basis for each other as well. As a result of this caring and God’s answered prayers, people have made first-time decisions for Christ and recommitments.
Because of the high interest in this methodology, we are going to implement the program with our junior and senior high school groups beginning in April. Praying for You will now be included in our new members orientation as we seek to become a stronger influence for Christ in the community. We understand in a new way that we must become a diligent praying and evangelistic force if we are to be obedient to the Great Commission.
We are being stretched in this process. It is difficult to change old habits and patterns of behavior in order to embrace the new. However, the value is clear and the stakes are high. Stretching to reach new levels of obedience to Jesus is always a good thing. We are learning to see others through His eyes, to remember our own condition before He touched us and to respond with praying and compassionate hearts.
Thank you for making Praying for You available to our church. It has revolutionized our evangelistic thinking and is having Kingdom impact.
