Lesson 2
Starting Spiritual Conversations
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For many of us, starting spiritual conversations is like jumping off a cliff. They are leaps of faith. The first step is the hardest. Anxiety of the landing makes you cautious or wanting to flee the scene.
For you, starting spiritual conversations may be more challenging than explaining the Gospel. However, as "ambassadors" for Christ, He wants to help us! |
General PrinciplesPRAYER (this is so important!) Prepare your heart for action. God wants to help and use you. LET HIM KNOW EACH MORNING THAT YOU ARE WILLING AND AVAILABLE. He is working at drawing people to Himself. Then Watch for "divine appointments" He brings your way to point people to faith in Jesus. Colossians 4:2-6 provides Biblical guidelines in preparing your heart for sharing. Devote yourselves to PRAYER, being WATCHFUL and THANKFUL. And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains. Pray that I may PROCLAIM it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always FULL OF GRACE seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:2-6 Download and use the Evangelism Prayer Bookmark each day to guide your prayers. CARE Seek to genuinely care about others. Care about their physical, emotional and especially their spiritual needs. Ask God to help you. Be empathetic about circumstances they are facing. Be quick to listen. Caring about their spiritual well-being will help you be sensitive and watchful for opportunities to share your faith. ASK QUESTIONS Get to know others better by asking questions. Questions that show you are interested to know more about them. What interests they have. How they feel about things. What is important to them. Find out what they like to talk about. Ask questions that "draw them out". Ask about how they "think" or "feel" about things. Ask questions using "what", "how", "when", etc. as they encourage more than simple "yes" or "no" responses. Genuine caring and being interested go a long way in building trust. Trust that will help them be open to your offer to talk about spiritual matters. BE SENSITIVE Sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings. He will guide you in caring, asking questions and showing you openings to share on a spiritual level with someone. Learn to trust Him. Share "Faith Stories"Coaching Tip:
NOT A SALVATION TESTIMONY "Faith stories" are different than a "salvation testimony" where you tell what your life was like before you came to faith in Christ, how you came to faith in Christ and what your life is like now since you came to faith in Christ. "Faith stories" are more about a specific circumstance where your faith in God made a difference in that situation. And they are generally shorter to tell. "Faith stories" should relate to a similar circumstance of the person you are talking. However, there are times when your salvation testimony is very appropriate to share. For help in Preparing to Share Your Salvation Testimony SALT THE EARTH
You are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13 Jesus picked salt as a trait of His followers. Salt draws out the flavor of food. As salty disciples of Christ, we need to sprinkle a little salt into our conversations simply to call attention to God and bring the extraordinary God into an ordinary world. GOD'S HELP IN LIFE'S STRUGGLES Faith Stories are short "testimonials" of how God has helped during a personal difficulty. A "faith story" will tell how your faith has made a positive difference during a struggle in your life. They tell specific ways God helped you during that challenging time in your life.
RELATE TO THE OTHER PERSON As you ask questions and get to know other people, often they mention a problem, a difficult situation or challenging circumstance they are dealing with. Listen for them. Perhaps you have had or may be dealing with a similar situation. Think about how your faith in God has been very helpful to you during that situation. For example: They may share about a difficult person at work. Perhaps you have had similar difficulties with someone at your workplace. However, the Lord has helped you with patience and forgiveness towards that person. Go ahead and share a "Faith Story" telling how your faith in God has helped you deal with that person to have peace, be patient and be forgiving so anger doesn't control you. Or they may share about a health issue. If God has helped you in the past when you had a health issue, share with them how God made a difference in your life at that time. Did He give you peace and comfort? Did He provide wisdom and guidance? Did He heal you? Here are some COMMON STRUGGLES WE FACE CIRCUMSTANTIAL ISSUES where your faith may have helped you:
EMOTIONAL ISSUES where faith in God may have made a difference:
BE SPECIFIC Avoid general statements, rather seek to share a personal "life experience"...make it a "story" with details. Talking about specific circumstances will make your story more genuine and credible. Share as much detail as you are comfortable and seems appropriate. "Faith Stories" BRING GOD INTO THE CONVERSATION Telling about your faith in God naturally brings Him into your conversation. He has become a natural part of your life. Therefore, be natural and mention how He is making a favorable difference in it. CREATES INTEREST AND CURIOSITY Sharing how you have found help often creates interest in others to hear more. If someone really wants help, they'll seek it out. If God is at work they likely will listen to how you discovered God's help for your life through understanding the Gospel. PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN After sharing a Faith Story and bringing God into your conversation, ask a follow-up question to see if God is stirring their heart to hear more. Something like:
COACHING TIP: ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION TO SHARE It shows respect. Their answer will tell you if you should proceed. Also it helps you as a witness to not have to "force it to happen". If they say "no", take it as an indication that God would not have you share with them at this time. Thank them and silently pray for an opportunity sometime in the future.
(The following assignment is one of the requirements to complete the course and receive a Certificate)
Assignment: Lesson 2
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