“Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.” 1 Peter 3:15 (CEV)
Most of us have long time friends we really want to talk to about our faith in God.
It seems hard to bring up the topic. Here are some suggestions:
First, pray: Bill Bright once said, “Talk to God about people before you talk to people about God.” Pray that God would prepare their hearts. My mom did not become a Christian till she was 54. One of her friends prayed for 25 years.
Second, ask questions: One of my favorite is, “I’m curious do you ever think about God or the spiritual side of life?” A few others… “Do you have any kind of religious background? If you could know there is a God and know him personally, would you want to? Do you think there is life after death? What would be your hope of getting into heaven?”
Third, tell your story: A clear simple testimony of the reason faith in Christ is significant to you is hard to beat. Here’s my story. Notice its short, 4 minutes. It’s not preaching it’s telling the story of my experience with Christ and the specific impact on your life.
Fourth, take them to things and introduce them to people that might help them connect with Christ: The more people that they meet who are genuine Christ followers, the greater the chance they will understand how Christ changes lives. For example, if they are into sports take them to hear a Christian athlete. If a student, meet other students, if a business person, someone in business…
Fifth... Pray some more! Don’t be afraid to give them an article to read. One of my favorites is, “Would you like to know God Personally? By Bill Bright.
By Mike Woodard
Used by Permission
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