Prayer in Evangelism

The summer before my seventh grade of school, we had a youth pastor for the summer that was very evangelistic. He taught us ways to lead people to the Lord. That summer, I was jumping on the trampoline with my cousins. The older of the two cousins, who was about 8 started asking me questions about the Lord. I tried to answer her questions the best that I could.

It began to rain, so we went inside the garage. When I continued speaking about what it meant to be a Christian, I noticed that my younger cousin (age 5) was listening just as intently as the questioning one. With pouring down rain in the background, I
was able to lead both of my cousins to the Lord.

After you’ve had the privilege to lead someone to the Lord, it’s all you want to do. So, I decided to tell all of my friends about Jesus at school. That’s easier said than done. I was in junior high that year. There was a lot of pressure in junior high to fit in. I couldn’t just fumble over my words and start a conversation about the Lord out of the blue.

One morning, I asked the Lord to help me be able to tell someone about Him on that very day. I told Him that I didn’t have much practice at it, so He was going to need to have someone come up to me and ask me how to become a Christian. Around noon that day, a girl came up to me in P.E. and said, “You are a preacher’s kid, how do you become a Christian?” I was able to tell her to the best of my ability how to become a Christian. She didn’t become a follower of Jesus that day, but she still heard the message of Jesus Christ. That was enough for me that day! I think back to that simple prayer to allow me to tell someone about Jesus that day. Can you imagine the Lord saying, “No, I don’t think that I want to grant you that request. I can’t use you today.” Of course He wants us to tell people about Him.

Recently, we were at a camp in Oklahoma. Brock was the camp preacher for the week. I passed by a girl one morning coming out of the cafeteria. I really felt the urgency to pray for her. I also felt as if I should talk to her, but I didn't. Later, the camp leader said that there were a couple of girls from a girls' home there. They were probably ordered to come to this camp. He said that when he shook her hand, she grabbed it really hard and released it aggressively. He could tell that she was very hard. Of course, it was the same girl that I had passed by that morning.

That night, I watched as she sat on the back row and drew the entire service. The next night, I saw her and her friend who was from the girls' home sitting at dinner alone. I joined them for dinner. Arora and her friend, Crissy, had a difficult life. My heart just broke for them. They didn’t click with anyone at the camp. When I asked Arora how she liked camp, she replied, "It's okay."

I began to pray that these girls would be saved and experience the love of Jesus. I also began to pray that the Lord would send these girls some friends at camp. That night, I watched Arora sitting on the back row again. She doodled on a piece of paper again for most of the service, but when Brock began to speak, she listened. Brock gave an invitation. The invitation was really difficult. Brock told them that becoming a Christian doesn't just take all of your problems away. Also, he explained that it doesn't make you more popular. In fact, it probably does the opposite. However, when he had the people who wanted to follow Jesus stand up boldly in front of everyone else, at least 50 stood up to become a Christian! As Brock had all of the people making a decision for Christ go to the back, the rest of the students stood up and faced the back giving the new Christians a standing ovation. It was so moving.

I watched as Arora sat in her seat while people left to receive Christ. I began to pray that somehow she would realize that the Lord loved her. Just then, Brock began to speak again and say something that he normally doesn't say after the invitation...He said that the Lord loves each one of you. He explained that some people in the crowd had never experienced true love, but the Lord wants to give you unconditional love. Those were the same words that I was using in my prayer for Arora at the time! At that point, Arora left the building to find a counselor, and she became a true follower of Jesus that night.

The next night of camp, Brock spoke about growing up and getting off of the milk (Hebrews 5). He told them that if they are a Christian, they are ministers. Then, the worship leader came up and led them in a time of praying for each other. Ministry happened! The Holy Spirit was thick in the room as middle schoolers ministered to each other. I watched as girls surrounded Crissy and Arora and prayed for them. Arora and Crissy were very emotional. Later, I found out that during the ministry time, Arora grabbed Crissy and told her that she needed to get saved. Crissy went outside and cried out this prayer..."God, I hated You, but now I love You."

What a privilege it is to contribute, even if it's simply by praying, to someone finding the saving grace of Christ!