I’d rather die a thousand deaths than walk up to a stranger and share the gospel.
It feels so much safer to share God’s love with people who come to my church. I also feel safe behind my computer screen sharing His Word through blog posts, tweets, and Facebook blurbs.
Last spring God opened my eyes one afternoon at a Greyhound Bus Station.
It was my husband’s fault. Jose spent nine months as a visiting professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Someone had the brilliant idea to put into practice what students were learning by going out to share Christ with people downtown. Of course professors and their spouses were supposed to lead the students, right?
So that’s how I ended up at the bus station. I felt scared and out of place. A woman with tattoos all over her body looked at her cell phone. A guy with dreadlocks and ripped pants ate his lunch sitting on an orange duffle bag. I wondered, “Who could mousy, middle-class me walk up and talk to?”
As it turned out, I didn’t have to walk up to anyone. I prayed, and a woman walked up to me. All I did was say hello and tell her I’d come to the bus terminal to pray for people.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
Not one person we met that afternoon refused prayer.
Joanie wanted prayer for her brother. He lives on the streets, and she hadn’t heard from him in months. After I prayed for her, I helped her find where to go since she couldn’t read her bus ticket.
Marina wanted prayer for her new job. A Buddhist from Nepal, she told me she didn’t believe in a personal Creator God, but her eyes locked into mine when I told her, “You may not believe in Him, but God thinks about you. He created you, He loves you, and He wants a relationship with you. That’s why He sent me here today.” After we prayed, she thanked me for the positive energy.
Susan needed prayer for her dysfunctional family. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend. Travelling across the country with two small suitcases, she planned to move in with her grown son. I shared the gospel and let her use my cell phone to call her son.
“It’s going to be okay,” she told him. “This lady I just met prayed for us.”
I met three women who desperately needed good news that day.
How do I get so wrapped up in my own safe, Christian life that I forget about the needs around me?
I forget my calling to represent Jesus to people living far from God.
Maybe I need to break out of my Christian bubble more often.
I don’t even have to go to the Greyhound bus station to do it. You probably don’t either.
We can find needy people right where we live and work. Our next door neighbors need to know that God really does love them. At the grocery store, someone might need a smile and an encouraging word. Maybe a co-worker has never heard his own name mentioned in prayer. Perhaps that single mom at the park would appreciate an invitation to church and lunch afterwards.
All we have to do is start by saying hello. And when we don’t quite know how to share the gospel, prayer opens hearts.
What about you? Have you seen someone lately who looked like they needed prayer and some good news?
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I’m linking up with Holly Barrett’s #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup at Angela Parlin’s, Crystal Storm’s #IntentionalTuesday, Holley Gerth’s Coffee for your Heart, Lyli Dunbar’s Thought-Provoking Thursday, and Arabah Joy’s Grace and Truth. Check out these communities for more encouragement.
Oh, Betsy that was a great experience! You are right – we need to break out of our Christian bubble more. Although I have done the “talk to/pray with a stranger in the past, it’s been a long time since…….thank you for the reminder that there are many out there who are ready and waiting for us to speak hope into their situations. I want to go outside and be aware of the nudges of the Holy Spirit who knows which person I should talk or pray with.
Blessings to you and yours.
Thank you, Linda. Blessings to you as you keep your eyes open! May the Holy Spirit speak to us and touch hearts, ours and theirs!
Good morning Betsy! I love this post. And I can identify with your feelings! I had the same experience once in San Antonio with a youth group. I was nervous that the teens were counting on me as a group leader to show them how to talk to people about Jesus. It all worked out according to God’s plan:) Thank you for sharing this part of your journey with us!
Oh I know! Don’t you just love it when others are looking to you for leadership, and you’re shaking in your boots? 🙂 I guess that’s when we “do it afraid!”
Betsy, this post is such a wonderful and needed reminder to me that I can find needy people right where I am each day. Sometimes in the form of a toddler, or an aging parent, or an adult child, or a spouse. May God show me how I can best serve them and pray for them this week. And as I go about my week, may He give me opportunities to share with strangers around me too. Blessings!
Amen! Joanne, I’m praying He’ll give me those same opportunities. Inside my house and out. 🙂
Good article, Bets. Keep up this inspiring work.
Love
Jose
Gracias, Amorcito!
My heart is pricked by this, for so often I spend my days inside my own head. It speaks to me that no one refused prayer — and this shows me that people do see a need for “outside help” in their crazy lives. Thanks, Betsy, for this push!
Yes, that really struck me too. Not once person refused prayer. My husband talked to several people too. Same thing. 🙂
This is beautiful, Betsy. I love how you helped the women at the bus station with what they needed most right then, and then how they responded to your gentle words. You’re right … prayer really does open hearts. And that really takes the pressure off us to do the “saving,” doesn’t it? 🙂
Oh yes, prayer does take the pressure off of us and puts our expectation on God.
I love how you saw God working through you so powerfully when you were willing to trust him and step out of your comfort zone. It challenges me to be ready to look for those opportunities too. I love the fact that no-one refused prayer- it shows that there are people who are open and looking for “something” and we have something amazing to share.
Yes, it’s true Lesley. We have something amazing to share and people all around us are looking for something. Love that.
Betsy, what an encouragement this post was. I know that I needed this reminder that I must share Jesus with the people that I know, or even the ones that God simply places in my path each day. There are no coincidences – if God places them with me for a moment – that moment belongs to Him and I am called to share His love.
Thanks so much for sharing/
Yes, there are no coincidences! I agree on that one. Thanks for reading today, Pam.
Dear Betsy … you’ve touched a tender spot, but done it with such grace and tenderness. Thank you friend, for this needed reminder.
For it’s all too easy to sit here tapping away on a keyboard, isn’t it …
Convicted, I am.
Oh Linda. I need this reminder as much as anyone. 🙂
I love this! And as I was reading my mind took me back to times when us and other young people were so on fire for God that we would go knocking on doors – and though we did get a few positive responses, as I read your testimony, it does make sense that if we pray God would lead them to us. I read somewhere that Jesus wasn’t pushy or go around begging, but walked forward and those who needed him or were interested followed. I think for me, I hesitate with getting outside of my bubble a lot because I am thinking I have to make it all happen and will fail. Your message reminded me today that I just need to be willing and God will work out the details. Thanks, friend!
Yes, I remember doing that a few times too, Meghan. (Knocking on doors.) I think one of the best reasons to engage in the kind of activity we did at the bus stations, other than reaching out to those particular people, is that it also makes us more sensitive to how we can share with people in daily life. Kind of convoluted wording here! I hope this makes sense.
So encouraging, Betsy. I share that discomfort with approaching others — but if God is preparing the way ahead of us then He’ll show us what to do and say.
Yes, Jeannie. It’s amazing how God opens doors when we pray.
What a great idea, a more comfortable entry into a conversation about faith. I’m with you about sharing the gospel with people, but praying for them seems doable.
I find often my non-Christian friends are very open to my praying for them.
Tears reading this…oh how great the Father’s Love for us…so, so powerful, when we heed the Spirit’s calling. I’m growing in courage to and have stopped people on the street/path to pray/share because I felt God call me to. Each one blessed me as well as I saw why God called me to stop.
Wow, what a great testimony, Anna. May God continue to speak to you and draw you to people who need some good news and hope!
This is awesome! Thanks for writing about your experience. Sometimes it seems like the hardest part for me is just getting out the door!!
Right? I know what you mean, Brooke. Getting out the door is hard. So is just saying, “Hi.”
What a great word, Betsy! I love this story and the way that God opened doors for you to pray with people.
I so agree – it seems like everyone likes to be prayed over!!
Appreciate your inspiration today!
Found your post on Grace and Truth.
Blessings,
Melanie
Thanks for reading today, Melanie. You are truly a person who IS good news, friend. You are making a big difference all around you.
I feel like I am losing my mind Betsy. I know I read this post earlier this week or maybe it was an email but I love this story and how prayer opened hearts and the opportunity for you show a Christlike love. Thank you for sharing your testimony. Praying for God’s arms of protection as you and yours serve Him. Blessings
Thank you, Horace. And no, you’re not losing your mind. God is giving you the mind of Christ. I’m praying for this now!
What a meaningful day of prayer and service you had at that bus station, Betsy! I struggle to talk to people about Jesus. Like you mentioned, it’s so much easier for me in blog and social media posts. I get fearful of not being able to answer questions people ask me. Thanks for your encouragement and inspiration :)!
I don’t always do this like this, ie. go to the bus station, but I find that it helps me be more mindful to share Christ more with people I run into every day and with non-believing friends.
Betsy! We were just talking about this at Bible Study today! It’s about meeting people where they are and sharing Jesus in that moment and planting a seed. Thanks for sharing & I will too! 😉
Thanks, Jill. Yes, we need to meet people where we are. Just sharing what He’s done for us is powerful. Praying for people even more so. Blessings on your Bible study group!