John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, "I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."There are numerous evangelism "methods" that teach how to lead someone to Jesus. Many of them are good and biblical. It does not matter how good the evangelism method is however, if the Spirit of God is not doing the work in a person's life.
I am afraid that at times, some in the church have been so eager to yield "decisions" for Christ, that they have failed to trust the Spirit to yield "disciples" for Christ. Jesus said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Clearly he was speaking in this context of the physical birth, the first birth. But I don't think I would be stretching it to say that we can also produce a work of the flesh in a false conversion if we are not careful.
Prayer plays a key role in our evangelistic efforts because only the Holy Spirit can bring about the new birth.
Titus 3:5 He saved us- not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer connects us to the heart of God. We have confidence to share the Gospel because our dependence is on Him. We trust that He can bring about the change in a person's life.
Here are four steps to integrate prayer into your evangelistic efforts:
1) Pray and ask God to prepare your heart. Ask Him to cleanse you, draw you close to Him, and build your confidence and faith in Him.
2) Pray and ask God for opportunities to share the Gospel. Ask Him to bring people across your path who need Jesus and to give you the spiritual eyes to recognize them.
3) After you have identified those people, and perhaps shared the Gospel with them initially, keep those names in your prayer journal and pray diligently for them that they would come to Jesus.
4) Follow through faithfully to continue to share the Gospel if they have not already trusted Christ.
As you continue this walk of faith, you will experience the Spirit of God at work. You will see people coming to Jesus in genuine faith, your heart will be blessed, and you will be encouraged to greater faithfulness.
