When we think about sharing the Gospel with others, how should we pray? There are probably more elements to pray about than we can consider, but I want to give you a few suggestions about some prayer requests we can put at the forefront of our evangelistic prayers. As you read through these ideas, I encourage you to stop and pray.
First, we each ought to pray that we have compassion for the lost. I know that one of the reasons I often fail to share Jesus with someone is because I don’t truly care about them. Sure, I don’t despise them, but I don’t have compassion for them either. You likewise may have an acquaintance who you are happy to chat with, but do you actually love them? Do you actually care about their eternal destiny? Jesus had a great deal of compassion for those apart from God. Matthew 9:36 says, “When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” So let us first pray for ourselves, that our own sinful hearts will be changed. Let us pray that we would have the same deep compassion that Jesus had for those apart from him. Once we have strong compassion for others, we will feel a natural pull toward telling them about Jesus.
Second, we should pray for our personal boldness in sharing the Good News of Jesus. This is a big one. I feel like perhaps the biggest failing Christians have when it comes to sharing the Gospel is that we are really easily scared. We are much like Saul’s emasculated army who cowered before the taunts of Goliath. We know what we should do, but we can’t bring ourselves to do it. We know about the power of God theoretically, but we lack the desire to see that power work through us. Perhaps this is because we fail to pray for the boldness of God when we speak. After Jesus had ascended, the apostles prayed, “Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29). God saw fit to answer this prayer, and two verses later, we see, “When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.” What if you made that same prayer your own? What if you stopped and prayed today that God would allow you to speak his word with boldness?
Third, we must pray that God would send his people to share his word. How often do you pray that God would raise up and send out believers to do the work of evangelism? Jesus actually commands his disciples to make this their prayer. After noting his compassion for the crowds, Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t command the disciples to go share the Gospel, at least not right then. Instead, Jesus commands them to pray that God would send out the workers. I feel like if we prayed this prayer more often, not only would we honor God with our obedience in praying, but we might come to realize that we are one of the very workers we have been praying for. Maybe it turns out that part of the prayer all along was for ourselves? In any case, we should pray for God to do what only he can do—to send out His workers to share the Good News.
Fourth, we can pray to be granted wisdom to see where God is working. We are so easily prone to miss the incredible things God is doing around us. Each day, God is working to draw people to himself, but we are blinded, busy, distracted, or otherwise indifferent to the spiritual battle being fought. Because of this, we find it really easy to miss the witnessing opportunities God puts in our path. As James 1:5 says, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” So let us pray for wisdom to see the spiritual reality around us. Let us pray for wisdom to know who God is directing us toward witnessing to today.