Praying, Sharing, and Caring

It Works through Prayer

The first step in making disciples is to be a disciple. The only fuel that will empower you to make disciples is God’s love which “has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom 5:5). We must also begin with a humble recognition of our complete dependence upon God. God alone brings spiritual life. We must also become burdened for our family and friends that are not Christians and desire that they be saved and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord.

In prayer, we ask God to save our friends and family. We pray for boldness and opportunities to share with them. A very practical way to develop this good habit is to list all unchurched family and/or friends that you know on a piece of paper. This will be your prayer list. Your goal with this list is to: 1) Pray for all of them to become Christians, 2) Pray for God to bless them and help them, 3) Pray for opportunities to share your testimony and the gospel with them, and 4) Pray that God would send others to share with them as well.

But where do you begin? Pray and ask God to reveal to you three individuals from this list to begin sharing with. Circle these names because these three individuals are “My3”. Commit to praying for them to be saved. You may be tempted to think that the person’s name you circled will never become a Christian, but pray in faith. Trust that if God is stirring you to pray for them that He is also drawing them to come to Jesus in faith. Remember that the power of God that saved you is powerful enough to save anyone.

It Continues with Share

You have taken a major step of faith by praying for your unchurched family and friends. Now take the next step of faith and prepare to share your testimony and the Gospel with them. Continue to pray that God would open their hearts to hear you and receive God’s free gift of salvation. Also, do not go into this alone. Contact some Christian friends; tell them what you are doing and ask them to pray for you as you share with the people on your list.  

Why Should I Share? 

Being nervous is natural, but do not let nervousness keep you from obedience. You should want to share because you love God and desire to see others know Jesus as Savior and Lord. The Bible is clear that “the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom” (1 Cor 6:9). In order to inherit God’s kingdom you must be “washed…sanctified…justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11). Acts 4:12 also tells us that Jesus is the only means of salvation. Therefore, it is very important that you tell your friends and family how they may be saved. It is also wise to have Christian friends you trust hold you accountable to do this and encourage you before, during, and after.

What is My Testimony? 

Every Christian has a testimony. Your testimony is your story of coming to faith in Jesus Christ. Ying Kai has helpfully noted that each testimony has three-parts:

1. First, tell about your life before you came to know Jesus as your Savior and Lord.  You don’t have to spend much time on the particulars of your sin. Share that you used to be a sinner who lived in rebellion against God and how you tried and failed to fix yourself.
2. Second, tell about how you met Jesus. Talk about what led you to Jesus and why you felt the need to become His follower. What happened that caused you to surrender your life to Him and follow Him? Who were some major influences in your life at that time? 
3. Third, tell about your life since you met Jesus. Be open and honest about how you daily struggle against sin and daily use Jesus’ strength to live a life pleasing to Him. You can say with John Newton: “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”

Write out your testimony on a piece of paper and practice sharing it. Remember the 3 C’s of effective communication: Clear (stick to the main points), Concise (approximately 5 min), Compelling (this is an important story). 

What is the Gospel?

Your goal is to conclude (if you are given the opportunity) with a gospel presentation and sharing how your friend can become a Christian. There are many great ways to do this and one method is 3 Circles that we learned about last week. The main points of an effective Gospel presentation is: 1) Jesus’ sinless life, 2) Jesus’ sacrificial death, 3) Jesus’ glorious resurrection, and 4) Jesus did this to provide you forgiveness of sin and restoration to God. To receive this free gift of salvation we must “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). After you have shared your testimony and the good news of the Gospel, Ask them if they would like to have a personal relationship with Jesus. 

It Requires Us to Care

We must care enough to overcome fear. Chris Williams, President of the Missouri Baptist Convention, noted in a sermon recently that the opposite of faith is not apathy, but fear. Courage, it has been said, is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of fear. The Apostle Paul asked the Ephesians to pray that God would give him boldness to preach the gospel (Eph 6:19-20) and rejoiced with the Philippians that because of his imprisonment “most of the brethren…have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear” (Phil 1:14). 

We must care enough to forsake hatred. Magician and atheist Penn Teller once said, “How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.” Let us pray for boldness and speak the gospel without fear.