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Practical Prayer Evangelism
Praying for the lost works.
In 1993 I led a bible study series with a group of twenty
or so rather boisterous University students who asked to be taught about prayer. In the process we had a book for the prayer
points with three columns, Request, Date Entered, and Date Answered. They started praying for their friends salvation, and
within a couple of weeks the converts started rolling in, two or three a week, and often ending up at the bible study. Every
person “put in the book” for prayer came to Christ, and naturally enough the prayer journal became known as the
“book of life”. If memory serves me correctly about 25 people came to Christ, through prayer alone, that semester.
Prayer worked, even with inexperienced believers, who hated witnessing, and people were saved.
What are they key ingredients to such successful
prayer evangelism?
- A group of believers gathered in unity. (Matthew
18:19,20)
- Being taught in how to pray. (Luke 11:1)
- And praying in faith. (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24)
- For the lost. (Romans 10:1-3, 1 Timothy 2:1-8)
- Who are their “neighbours”. (Luke
10;25-37)
- Lovingly by name. (Exodus 33:17, Isaiah 43:1)
- Regularly and persistently. (Luke 18:1-8)
- And recording the answers and building faith.
( 1 Chronicles 16:4)
That said, why does prayer evangelism
work?
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Prayer wrestles against the powers
and principalities (Ephesians 6:10-20)
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That keep people in spiritual
bondage (Ephesians 2:1-4, 4:17-19)
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And which can deceive them away
from the truth (1 Timothy 4:1-4)
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Prayer also opens people’s
spiritual eyes. (Colossians 1:9, Ephesians 1:17-19)
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And assists with the Holy Spirit’s
work of convicting them of sin, righteousness and judgment. (John 16:8)
For more on How To Pray For The Lost go to http://aibi.gospelcom.net/aibi/praylost.htm
How then can a local church or home church undertake
prayer evangelism?
Firstly teach your people how to pray. (Luke 11:1) Christians generally have to be taught in how to pray. It is a process of learning about
who we are in Christ, our spiritual authority, and how the promises of God can be claimed in faith. Free material on how to
pray can be found at http://www.aibi.ph/prayer/
Get a Prayer Journal and use it. Faith is built when we see prayer answered. It is good to record the deeds of the Lord. So get a large
notebook and rule it into three columns, a wide column for the prayer request and two narrower columns for date entered and
date answered. Make the Prayer Journal part of every prayer meeting and weekly bible study for that group.
Pray regularly and persistently. Pray each week at the bible study or home church meeting. Pray for all the unanswered items, each
week. Within four to six weeks you should start seeing people saved.
Pray in faith and expect answers. (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24)The Scriptures tell us to pray “believing we have received”,
faith and holy expectation reach Heaven.
Pray lovingly by name for people. Names are important to God who “knows us by name” and “redeems us by name”
(Isaiah 43:1 Exodus 33:17)) and for some reason have great power in the spiritual realm. Prayer that is directed personally
and lovingly, in faith , on the basis of redemption of a soul, is powerful.
Pray for “neighbors who are lost”. God has put us next to certain people for their salvation. There is often a divine purpose in who
we meet and who the Lord places on our hearts. Ask God to give you a prayer burden for specific people of your family, friends
and neighbors.
Any group of three believers can do this. It does
not require you to “be an evangelist”, to hand out tracts or to knock on doors. If someone wants a gospel presentation
you can direct them to an online gospel presentation such as:
http://www.aibi.ph/aibi/gospel1.htm
You don’t
even need to form a committee! Just get your notebook, your bible, a couple of friends – and pray for the lost.
Blessings!
John Edmiston
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PRAYER EVANGELISMby Bret Hammond
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WHEN
I was young I had an uncle who would come visit about once a year. He was just a mailman who worked hard – rain, sleet,
snow or hail. There wasn’t anything too special about him, but he managed to endear himself to all his nephews and nieces.
Every year when he came home, he would bring with him some new magic trick to impress and amaze us. Without it, we probably
wouldn’t have even noticed he was back. With it he earned our excitement every time he came home.
When I look at the way Jesus called his disciples, I’m reminded just a bit
of that uncle. Take the call of Peter, for example. Jesus could have simply walked up to him and said, ‘Hi, I’m
the Messiah. Come follow me,” and Peter would have likely ended up in history as just another nameless fisherman working
the Sea of Galilee. But instead Jesus grabbed his attention with the only thing that seems to work on fishermen – a
huge catch (Luke 5:1-11). Once they were back on land there was no need to convince Peter who he was – Peter knew there
was something special about this man.
When we talk about praying for the lost, very often we speak in terms that almost
seem devious. We go into our closets, silently pray for the salvation of our neighbor and then wait for some sign from God
that we’ve been given the green light to tell them that Jesus loves them. While I would never suggest we not pray for
our neighbor in secret, I think it’s time we begin to see that prayer can be one of the greatest attention grabbers
for those neighbors. When they not only know that we’re praying for them, but also see specific answers to prayer, they
realize that there is something special about this Jesus they hear us talking about.
I hope this isn’t the case, but it’s almost as though we’ve taken
prayer for granted. We’re used to going to church and seeing the list of those who are sick or otherwise in need of
prayer. We are very aware that when we are in need we can instantly reach for a phone and call friends who will drop everything
and go to their knees for us. We are so accustomed to prayer requests and praise reports that we’ve forgotten what it
means to live without the assurance of God’s presence and the support of intercessors.
But what about your neighbors? When we the last time someone told them that they
were being prayed for? When was the last time they shared their deepest need with someone who responded, “I’ll
be praying about that?” The sad fact is that may have never happened. They may not even realize that kind of comfort
and power is available to them.
Consider the Church in Acts 2. They were a new group, distinct from the other Jews
around them, and often very misunderstood. And yet they saw people respond to their message by the thousands. Was it just
the preaching? No. Acts 2:43 tells us that “Everyone (Believer and Unbeliever alike) was filled with awe, and many wonders
and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” The people were very aware that there was a power available to those
followers of Jesus that wasn’t available anywhere else. The awe that inspired allowed those disciples to be heard by
the people around them, which then lead to turning the world upside-down.
A few months ago, I called a local mechanic about getting some work done on my car.
His wife, who also works as his receptionist, told me they wouldn’t be able to do any work because they had no help
at the garage. Times were getting tough and she was afraid that here husband would have to go back to work driving a truck,
being on the road and away from his family for days on end just so they could survive. It would have been easy to simply thank
her and go back to the phone book looking for another mechanic, but instead I told her that I would be praying about the problem.
I could tell from her response that it wasn’t much comfort, but I prayed anyway.
About a month later my phone rang. It was the mechanic’s wife. Her voice was
full of emotion as she told me to feel free to bring my car by anytime – they had gotten the help they needed and business
had picked up again. She seemed to fight back the tears as she thanked me for my prayers and told me there would be no need
for her husband to go on the road.
I would dare say she had never been that excited about an answered prayer before.
I would also venture that the next time their family is in crisis she’ll remember the difference a prayer made. And
whether she realizes it or not, she has now put herself in a position where God has her attention and the call to “come
follow me” carries a lot more weight.
The good news you share with your neighbor has the power to bring them eternal life.
But don’t forget that the prayer you share with your neighbor has the ability to fill them with awe as they see a living
God who cares for their needs. Be sure to share your source of strength and awe with them. |
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