The biggest problem when we share our faith is supernatural. As we seek to share about Jesus, we so often find there’s an immovable blockage, a solid spiritual barrier, that prevents people taking Jesus seriously.
Jesus-followers are called to give a `reason for the hope we have’ (1 Peter 3:15), and the evidence is powerful (for a summary of one aspect try https://petelowmanresources.com/core-issues-1-was-jesus-mad-bad-or-god/ ). Nonetheless, we certainly have no ability to `argue anyone into the kingdom`; according to the Bible there’s a problem, a solid barrier, that goes far deeper than that. The new testament speaks very directly about this in 2 Cor 4:4: there’s actually a supernatural blinding of our egos that prevents anyone who’s not yet a believer from `seeing the glory of Christ’. There has to be a revelation from God that breaks through this.
Now, that is why it can be very valuable if a friend who’s not yet a believer will take just a minute to pray the “agnostic’s prayer”: **Jesus, I don’t know if you’re there, indeed I think you’re probably not; but, if you are, and if you show yourself to me, I will take you as my Lord, and will follow wherever you lead.** (If someone won’t, of course, it’s well worth chatting about why.)
But also, against this supernatural blockage, only supernatural weapons will do. As Paul will say later in 2 Corinthians: `The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world… We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God’ (10:3-5). What then are these weapons? Paul’s classic account in Eph 6 speaks of two: the `sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God’, and prayer. These are vital as we face those barriers, because evangelism is never just an intellectual wrestling-match. Unless the supernatural blindness is broken by persistent prayer, and until God indeed mercifully `makes his light to shine in our hearts’ (2 Cor 4:6), nothing can be achieved.
We’ve seen this so many times in student evangelism. Over and over, the crucial work for university events weeks is (and needs to be) done in prayer meetings beforehand. `I never cease to be amazed how these prayers are answered’, wrote Roger Mitchell in the IFES magazine; `the people we’ve listed for specific prayer make up many of those who become Christians.’ It’s no accident that African countries with huge evangelical student groups – sometimes a thousand believers in a single university – have also been marked by weekly nights of prayer attended by hundreds. It underlines the importance of Hallesby’s memorable exhortation: `Pray every day for your non-Christian friends. Surround them with your prayer. Each time you pray, you plunge a holy explosive into their soul; and one day it will scatter the ice from around their hearts!’
An immensely valuable tool, therefore, can be a card that helps our fellowship members be serious about this. Perhaps saying something like the following:
`I covenant to pray weekly for these people who Jesus loves and died for:
————————————————————–
————————————————————–
————————————————————–
————————————————————–
Signed ———————————
(Why not do a 1-1-1? Pray for one of these people for one minute at one p.m. each day!)`
I pray that that can be helpful! But here’s something else. In our postmodern era quite a few people are very happy to be prayed for (who knows, they may think, it’s just possible this Christian, odd though they are, has access to something…) But of course once people start to acknowledge their need of God in any way and start looking to him for help, they may be `opening the skylight` to God! Quite a few Christians spend time offering prayer on the street, and this can be really valuable.
But this is also something our church can offer our neighbourhood. In some years as a pastor I visited the homes in the surrounding streets simply to greet them, drop in a credit-card sized card and ask if they have anything they’d like prayer for, since we do believe in prayer to a loving God and we do see prayers answered. (I think people were often surprised that that was really all, that I didn’t wedge the door open with my foot for a long conversation unless that was wanted!) My hope of course was that the card might (because of the prompting of the Spirit!) be put on the mantlepiece `just in case it’s ever needed`…
On one side, therefore, it had our church’s name, logo, service times, address, telephone number, email and web address, and `A warm welcome awaits you every sunday`. The other side had two thought-provoking paragraphs, written by my colleague Andrew Waugh:
`About Jesus: Jesus Christ is the most amazing person ever to have walked the earth. He loved the `losers`, the `strugglers` and the `winners`. Today our lives can be changed by his death and rising again.
We have found that Jesus is not a made-up story, nor was he merely a wise teacher. When he said he was God come to be with us, he was either mad or telling the Truth. Who do you think he is?
About [our church]: … is a group of people lovingly brought together by God. We’re following him, trying to live out Jesus’ teaching today. We take the Bible seriously and we’re learning to live more in harmony with the Holy Spirit. We hope you’ll feel welcomed by real people whose lives have been touched by the real and loving God!’
Also one season we reached out to a wider area. This offered a way for some of our homegroups – or some of their members, maybe while others were praying – to reach out to their locality, opening the way too for contacts to be invited to summer bridgebuilding activities, barbecues etc. This wouldn’t suit all homegroups, but should suit some, especially those that are more locality-based; plus of course it can be a real bonding activity that takes groups’ sense of calling and identity a very big step forward. It meant also that we could maybe revisit later to find out what happened about the prayer topics we were told about, and whether we could pray further. Or at the least, it meant we could make links that would bear fruit in relationships for years to come. So, we used a card the size of a normal (freepost) envelope, with, one one side, a really attractive design created by Canterbury Baptist Church. On the other we put a map showing where our church meets, and this:
`Have you ever felt the need to pray to God?
Almost all of us have. And we’ve seen that prayer can make a difference in every situation and season of life.
If you would value prayer for anything at all – maybe for yourself or your work, your studies or your family, or maybe for other concerns – we would like to pray with you.
Please contact us in one of the following ways:
E mail us: XXXX
[Web address, facebook, instagram, telephone… ]
Complete and return this postcard to us at [street address]
Name _____________________________
Your contact details __________________________________
___________________________________________________
I would appreciate prayer for __________________________
___________________________________________
_________________________________________
And you are very welcome to come and meet Jesus with us any XXXXday! We get together at XXXX pm.`
So: three ideas just in case they’re useful – just in case they might help you help people towards the living God!
