It’s often skipped by many Christians, but is the most important step in anything we do. It’s prayer. How can we expect God to bless our efforts in sharing our faith if we don’t ask him to guide us first? We will be much more effective if he is leading us to the right people at the right time and giving us the right words to speak.

What should the content of such prayers be? Which we focus on one we are praying about sharing our faith?

• Pray for the right person. Doesn’t God want everyone to be saved? The answer is yes. But he goes through a process with each person. Some people are more ready than others, and only he knows people’s hearts. So why not ask God to send you to the right person?
• Pray for the right time. Many Christians worry about when to speak to others. Should I do it in public or in private? Should I do it at work, invite them for coffee, call them at home, or at some other time? The best time to know when to speak to someone about Jesus is when the Holy Spirit tells you to. Of course, this requires that we listen to the Holy Spirit on a regular basis throughout our day. He will give us the push to share when he knows the time is right.
• Pray for the right words. As we previously discussed, God gives us the words to speak by the power of the Holy Spirit. He will give you the right transition an introduction in the conversation. Perhaps during that conversation the Holy Spirit will prompt you when the person says things like, “I really feel like I’m alone in this situation,” or “I’m curious about God but I don’t know where to start.” There are a number of cues and prompts that we may not be paying attention to, but the Holy Spirit is waiting. We need to be sensitive to his leading through the whole process.

Taking these steps in prayer means that we are being intentional about sharing our faith. Not only this, but we are also being led by the Holy Spirit. Even more, it takes the pressure off of us to come up with the right person, time, and words. God is working these things before us.

But this is not all we do in prayer. There are other things that must be done.

• Pray for the person you will witness to. Whether God has placed a family member, friend, coworker, colleague, or even a complete stranger on our hearts, we must begin before we open our mouths with bowing our knees. We need to get a heart to see that person come to Jesus. We need to observe their need for him. We need to have a passion to see them know Jesus before we speak.
• Ask God to prepare their heart. God goes before us and prepares others to hear what we have to say. We are not completely alone. We are following in his footsteps. He tells the soil, making hard ground soft to hear the gospel. We are partnering with God in asking him to prepare them. We move from the passive role of saying, “That guy needs Jesus”to “Lord, make him aware of his need for you and send me!”
• Ask God for boldness and openness to the Spirit. Even though God gives us the words to speak, we must be open and sensitive to the Holy Spirit to hear them. Often times when I have spoken to others about Jesus I am surprised to hear what comes out of my mouth. It is almost as if the Holy Spirit is using me and I am taking a backseat. This is how it should be. And at the same time, we cannot be like Jonah and run the opposite way when God tells us to speak. The Spirit will give you the boldness to speak the words he has for that person.

The best part about this whole process is that God wants to use us. He sees something in us that is part of his plan for those around us. Don’t be afraid to share your faith! He picked you to go to that person because he knew he could trust you with their soul.

What kinds of things do you pray for before you share your faith? Is there anything I missed? Leave a comment and tell me about your prayer process when it comes to sharing your faith.