Praying Evangelistically
What is prayer? Most of us have some concept or definition of prayer, yet we often struggle to clearly articulate it. In preparation for ministry this year, we read a book on prayer—Prayer and the Voice of God. In it, the authors define prayer simply as “asking God for things.” There is an important caveat here—namely, that we are to ask God for things that are in line with His will and desires. We find these things in God’s revealed Word. Which means we must be reading and listening to God’s Word to know how to pray for the things God desires.
In this article, I want to look specifically at how God wants us to pray for the expansion of His Kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel message. The term I will use for this is praying evangelistically. There are four aspects of praying evangelistically that I want to examine—Burden, Opportunity, Boldness, Expectancy. To do this, I want to look briefly at six passages to demonstrate prayer as directed in God’s Word for the proclamation of the gospel.
Burden
Matthew 9:36-38; Luke 10:1-2
Burden is the “who” of the gospel. In verse 36 of Matthew 9, Jesus saw the crowds and had compassion on them. Why? “…because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Do you have compassion for those around you who are lost, who are harassed and helpless, wandering hopelessly through life? The first aspect of evangelistic prayer is asking God to give you a burden for the lost. By burden, I am not speaking of a heavy, overwhelming load. Rather, I refer to the responsibility that we have to God and to those around us. We need to be reminded of our responsibility. God has called us, saved us, and invited us to join His mission—redeeming a people for Himself. He has given you and me a mandate to carry out His purposes— “Make disciples.” And the first part of making disciples is seeing people as God sees them—precious, valuable, broken, helpless, images of God.
Notice that this is not passive. It is not acknowledging that people are harassed and helpless and then going about our business. Jesus had compassion for the crowds. Not pity. Not empathy. Not sympathy. Compassion. And compassion always results in a response. The first response is a specific prayer: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” The second response is found as part of the larger story around these verses. Jesus calls and sends out his disciples to go ahead of him and declare the good news (the gospel) of the Kingdom. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you are called and you are sent to those around you—your family, friends, fellow students, communities, and so on. Ask God to remind you of this burden, this responsibility, that you have as a part of the Kingdom of God and ask Him to raise up and send out more laborers.
Opportunity
John 4:35-38
Opportunity refers to the “where” and the “when” of making disciples. This is closely related to burden—we find that burden and opportunity give us the action part of evangelistic prayer. You are probably familiar with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. If not, just read through John 4. In verse 35, Jesus says this: “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” This tells us where to look for those who need the gospel. They are all around us, we just need to lift our eyes from our own situation, our own worries, our own problems. When we lift our eyes, we find that the fields are white for harvest. Jesus is saying that when we lift our eyes from ourselves to others, we see the opportunities all around us to share and show the message of the gospel.
Verse 36 gives us the “when”. Notice that Jesus says “Already…” This implies that the harvest is in the process of happening. It is not something we are waiting for, but something that we join in as it is happening. He confirms this in verse 38 when he says: “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” When you became a follower of Jesus, you entered the labor of the harvest. Ask God to remind you to lift your eyes and to help you recognize the opportunities around you.
Boldness
Acts 4:23-31; Colossians 4:2-4
Boldness is a willingness to take risks and act in an innovative manner. If you read through Acts, you will find the Apostles taking risks and being innovative in when, where, and who they share gospel. Boldness for the gospel is the catalyst that causes us to open our mouths and declare the good news of the glory of Christ. We can know who to share the gospel with and recognize the opportunities to do so, but without boldness, our mouths stay silent and the message is not heard. Boldness comes through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Look at the prayer of the church in Acts 4:29—“… grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” This prayer comes after Peter and John were arrested and told not to speak the name of Jesus again. They do not pray for protection or for the persecution to stop—they pray for boldness to continue to speak God’s Word.
Boldness needs context. Being bold for the sake of boldness does not advance the gospel. It must be accompanied by clarity—a clear presentation of the gospel. Colossians 4:4 says: “…declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” There should be no confusion about why we are speaking and what we are speaking. This is even more important as the gospel crosses cultural and ethnic boundaries. Ask God to grant you boldness to proclaim the gospel with clarity.
Expectancy
1 Timothy 2:1-4
Expectancy answers the question of “why”. In 1 Timothy 2:1, we are urged to make “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings…for all people…” Verses 3 and 4 tell us why. “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We can pray expectantly because we are praying for the very things that God wants! We are asking God to do exactly what He desires to do. As we pray, we look with expectation at how God will answer our prayers. And so we have confidence to ask God for things that are in alignment with God’s desires—specifically, for burden, opportunity, and boldness.
Practical Application
Let’s look at a few ways we can begin to pray evangelistically. Do not hesitate to write out these prayers or to simply copy what is written here.
Burden
Make a list of 1 to 5 people you know who are not followers of Jesus.
Pray for them by name every day. Ask God to open their eyes to the light of the gospel.
Find 1 or 2 brothers or sisters in Christ who will commit to praying with you.
Opportunity
Pray that God would prompt the people on your list to ask you questions about what you believe.
Pray that God will help you recognize the opportunities He provides
Think of when and where you might be able to talk about the gospel (e.g., taxi rank, residence hall, bus to campus, etc.)
Boldness
Pray that when God gives you the opportunity, He would give you the boldness to speak.
Ask God to help you think of new or innovative ways to bring the gospel into conversations and situations.
Expectantly
Expect opportunities to share the gospel. Be looking and listening for God to answer your prayers.
We want to pray for others in our life in a way that glorifies God and encourages boldness in our efforts to share the gospel and disciple others. Praying evangelistically challenges us to depend on God and to be faithful in our responsibility as followers of Christ. May we be those who pray with eager expectation, knowing that we pray to a God who delights in saving and redeeming lost and broken people. May His Kingdom and His glory be proclaimed!
