Transcript Praying Your Friends to Christ

PRAYING YOUR
FRIENDS TO CHRIST
A Guide for Praying Evangelistically
GOD’S PLAN FOR SHARING (GPS)
…is the result of the North American Mission
Board (NAMB) and state partners seeking
God’s direction for how to fulfill the Great
Commission in North American by 2020
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GOD’S PLAN FOR SHARING (GPS)
GPS is a simple, concise strategy to pray for and
share Christ with every lost person in the
United States and Canada by the end of the
year 2020.
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GOD’S PLAN FOR SHARING (GPS)
Four Biblical Markers for God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Praying
Equipping
Sowing
Harvesting
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SESSION ONE
THE INFLUENCE OF PRAYER ON EVANGELISM
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SESSION ONE
 “The most important
human factor in effective
evangelism is PRAYER.”
– R. A. Torrey
 Jesus commands His
followers to pray for
laborers of the harvest
– (Matt. 9:36-38).
I urge, then, first of all, that requests,
prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for everyone-for kings and all those in authority,
that we may live peaceful and quiet
lives in all godliness and holiness.
This is good, and pleases God our
Savior, who wants all men to be
saved and to come to a knowledge
of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
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SESSION ONE
Five Ways Prayer and Evangelism Work Together:
1. Prayer opens the heart of the recipient (Col. 4:3).
2. Prayer gives clarity to the message presented by the
witness (Col. 4:2-4).
3. Prayer empowers the message of the witness (Col. 4:24, Rom. 1:16).
4. Prayer gives courage despite threats against the
witness (Acts 4:23-31).
5. Prayer positions the witness in the middle of God’s
redemptive activity (Acts 1:14, 2:1-41).
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SESSION ONE
Prayer positions us and other believers in the
midst of God’s redemptive activity:
 With the right heart
 In the right place
 At the right time
 With the right message
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SESSION ONE
Three Strategic Processes in Sharing Christ:
1. Prepare – with a pure and compassionate heart.
2. Pray – for every lost person’s salvation and for
every believer to become a witness.
3. Share – by putting feet to our prayers.
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SESSION ONE
“Although humans play key roles, church growth
is not a human enterprise; it is a divine initiative.
When all is said and done, God is the one who
gives the increase and adds to the church.”
– The Everychurch Guide to Growth
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SESSION ONE
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SESSION ONE
Truths to Treasure


God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS) is a
strategy to reach every person across
the United States and Canada with the
gospel by the year 2020.
God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS) consists of
four biblical mileposts: praying,
equipping, sowing, and harvesting.

“Friends” are people we already share a
relationship with, whether it is casual or
close.

“Neighbors” goes beyond those who
live in our neighborhoods,
encompassing any person we
encounter throughout the day as well
as those all over the United States and
Canada we may never meet.
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
Prayer and evangelism must be bound
together.

God guides us to present the right
message in the right place at the right
time.

Bringing our friends and neighbors to
Christ takes these three strategic
processes:
1. Prepare; 2. Pray; 3. Share.

Salvation is a divine initiative, not a
human enterprise.

Write below a few particular truths
that God has impressed upon your
heart that He is telling you to live out.
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SESSION TWO
Prepare with a Pure and Compassionate Heart
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SESSION TWO
1. Prepare with a pure heart.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Sin separates from God Isaiah 59:1-2
God won’t listen if we cherish sin Psalm 66:18
God forgives when we confess 1 John 1:9
It is important to repent James 5:16
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SESSION TWO
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SESSION TWO
2. Prepare with a heart of praise and
thanksgiving.
A. Give thanks to God for your salvation.
B. Give thanks to God for His redemptive work.
C. Give thanks to God for allowing you and others to join
Him in that redemptive work.
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SESSION TWO
3. Prepare with a heart of compassion for the lost.
A. It starts with an understanding of God’s love, grace and
mercy. (2 Cor. 5:14)
B. It is stimulated by our time spent in the Father’s
presence. (Lk. 23:34)
C. It is demonstrated in a desire for redemption rather
than destruction. (Ezek. 22:30)
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SESSION TWO
Truths to Treasure:
 The first step in bringing people to Christ is to prepare our
hearts by confessing our sins.
 The next step is to have a heart of praise and thanksgiving
to God.
 A heart of compassion for the lost is developed by
understanding God’s love, grace and mercy, is stimulated
by time spent in the Father’s presence, and is
demonstrated in a desire for redemption rather than
destruction.
 Write a few particular truths that God has impressed upon
your heart that He is telling you to live out.
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SESSION THREE
PRAYER - FOR EVERY LOST PERSON’S
SALVATION AND FOR EVERY BELIEVER’S
WITNESS
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SESSION THREE
Why Pray for the Lost?
1. It is Biblical.
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SESSION THREE
A. God’s Word urges us to pray for the lost.
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession
and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings and all
those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives
in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God
our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a
knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
Dat
SESSION THREE
B. Jesus specifically commands us to pray for
the lost.
…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Matthew 6:10
He said to them, "When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be
your name, your kingdom come’.” Luke 11:2
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SESSION THREE
C. Paul modeled praying for the lost.
 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that
they may be saved. Romans 10:1
 I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in
the Holy Spirit – I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my
heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from
Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race. Romans 9:1-3
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SESSION THREE
2. Because of the spiritual condition of the lost.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Blind (Romans 3:11; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Bound (Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:25-26)
Condemned (John 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3; Ephesians 2:3)
Hell-Bound (John 3:36; Revelation 20:15)
Helpless (John 6:44; Ephesians 2:1)
Hopeless (Ephesians 2:12)
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SESSION THREE
How do we pray for lost people?
1. Pray according to the promises of God
(1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9).
2. Pray asking God for resources and opportunities
(Luke 10:2-4).
3. Pray the acrostic “HEART”.
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SESSION THREE
“HEART”
 H= Pray for a receptive HEART (Luke 8:5,11-15)
 E= Pray for their spiritual EYES to be open and their EARS
to hear (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Matthew 13:15,16)
 A= Pray for God’s ATTITUDE toward sin
(John 16:8, 1 John 1:8)
 R= Pray for the person to be RELEASED to believe
(2 Timothy 2:25-26, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4)
 T= Pray for a TRANSFORMED life (Romans 12:1-2)
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SESSION THREE
Three kinds of laborers for which we pray:
1. Courageous Luke 10:1-4
2. Those who put Christ above all Luke 9:57-63
3. Those who have a heart of compassion Matthew 9:36-38
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SESSION THREE
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SESSION THREE
Methods to pray evangelistically for our friends
and neighbors:
1. List Praying
2. Prayerwalking
3. Neighborhood Houses of Prayer
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SESSION THREE
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SESSION THREE
Truths to Treasure
We should pray for the lost because Jesus
prayed for them and because it is biblical.
We are to pray for laborers committed
to God’s redemptive work.
We should also pray for the lost because of
their spiritual condition.
Some practical methods of praying for
friends and neighbors are list praying,
prayer walking and participating in
neighborhood houses of prayer.
We should pray for lost people according to
the promises of God because God desires to
save people, and nothing is impossible for
God.
The HEART acrostic suggests some ways to
pray for the lost to have a new heart:
H= Pray for a receptive HEART
E= Pray for their spiritual EYES to be
open and their EARS to hear
A= Pray for God’s ATTITUDE toward sin
R= Pray for the person to be RELEASED
to believe
T= Pray for a TRANSFORMED life
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What is your personal truth to treasure
that God has spoken to you? Write it in
your book. What is a specific action you
can take on that truth?
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SESSION FOUR
SHARE: PUTTING FEET TO YOUR PRAYERS
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SESSION FOUR
“Evangelism without intercession is like an
explosive without a detonator; intercession
without evangelism is like a detonator without
an explosive.”
– Reinhart Bonnke
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SESSION FOUR
1. God is Looking for Followers Faithful in
Prayer and Evangelism
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SESSION FOUR
2. The Faithful Follower Lives Strategically
A. Build evangelism into your everyday patterns of life,
efficiently using time and resources.
B. Seek out relationships with those who are lost
C. Know the story of the Gospel of Christ.
D. Know your own story of coming to faith in Christ.
E. View evangelism as an investment, not an event.
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SESSION FOUR
“After we receive a ‘no,’ there are several things we
should not do. We should not take the response
personally or respond with anger, disdain, or
shock. We should not remove ourselves from the
lost person’s life. It may be after the ‘no’ that
people are most sensitive to you and to the
message of Christ. We can’t afford to send the
message that we were only friends with them as
long as there was a chance they would join our
club.”
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SESSION FOUR
3. The Faithful Follower Encounters
the Lost Redemptively by:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Demonstrating a Loving Concern
Offering Assistance in an Area of Need
Asking Open-Ended Questions
Going Beyond Trite Answers
Listening Attentively and Carefully
Praying for God’s Timing to Move into Spiritual Matters
Offering to Pray with the Lost Person
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SESSION FOUR
4. The Faithful Follower Delivers the Good
News by:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Asking Permission to Tell His/Her Story
Sharing the Gospel
Asking for a Willing Commitment to Christ
Leading Them in a Prayer of Commitment
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SESSION FOUR
5. The Faithful Follower Begins the Discipleship
Process:
A. Collect Contact Information for Follow-up
B. Review and Leave Behind Some Basic Discipleship
Material
C. Plan Future Contact or Arrange it with Another Believer
D. Offer to Enroll Them in Bible Study/Sunday
School/Small Group
E. Invite the Person to Your Church
F. Pray with the Person Before Leaving
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SESSION FOUR
Truths to Treasure




God looks for followers faithful in prayer and evangelism.
God desires for us to be strategic in prayer and evangelism.
To have a lifestyle of evangelism we must encounter the lost.
As prayer and evangelism must be bound together,
evangelism is not complete without discipleship and full
discipleship reproduces in prayer and evangelism.
 What specific truths has God shown you during this section
that you need to apply to your life? Take a few minutes to
tell your triplet what God has been saying and then offer
prayer for obedience to that truth.
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SESSION FOUR
“The church must be brought to the end of its self-seeking
and come to understand what matters most in God’s
mission of kingdom advance - people. People need the
Lord. And whatever it takes to reach them, to that the
church should first give itself. Other concerns matter only
as they support this central kingdom goal. The church does
not exist for itself. The church exists for the glory of Jesus
Christ, the advancement of his kingdom through bringing
people to the foot of the cross, and forming Christ in God’s
people. Prayer for revival lays the foundation for this to
happen. May we, therefore, make that ‘method’
paramount.”
- Lewis Drummond
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INVITATION TO CONSECRATION
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CONCLUSION
Let’s review the process of praying your
friends and neighbors to Christ:
•
•
•
•
•
•
It’s the will of God.
It’s biblical.
It takes preparation of the heart in purity.
It takes preparation of the heart in compassion.
It will take faithful followers praying for the lost.
It will take faithful followers sharing with the lost
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CONCLUSION
Dwight L. Moody was correct when he said,
“Those who have left the deepest impression on this
sin-cursed earth have been men and women of prayer.
You will find that PRAYER has been the mighty power
that has moved not only God, but man.”
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CONCLUSION
Ron Dunn in his book, Don’t Just Stand
There, Pray Something, said,
“That God would place such an incomparable
privilege and such responsibility in our hands is
past understanding, but he has done just that.
Through intercession we can become the
instruments of salvation to men and women we
never see face to face in this life.”
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CONCLUSION
Let’s join hearts and hands and prepare, pray
and share, so that all across North America
people can hear and respond to the Good
News of Jesus Christ.
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