Witnessing Help!

[soulfire365]

I've never really been "taught" how to witness or anything, and I'm embarrassed to ask any of my Christian friends for advice, so I've pretty much been winging it for the last 2 years, which is when I started trying. I don't get many opportunities during school 'cuz it's pretty fast paced, and I've never even had the chance to see someone else witness to someone. I really, really want to witness effectively, but all I've been able to do is open up a couple people to the possibility that God exists. So, if anyone can give me tips, or tell me where I can find some, that would be great! Also, I've a friend who won't respond whenever I try to witness to him, like if I ask if he thinks there's a God, he'll just get a blank look on his face and won't answer; what can I do about that? Thanks for your time!

 

[Chopinzee]

You don't necessarily have to sell the full-blown conversion in order to consider yourself successful. Just opening someone up to the possibility that God exists is a success in itself because later in their life there will be many other people who try to witness to them as well, and they will be more open during those times.

I like to convince atheists that they're not really atheist, but agnostic. Even though this isn't a conversion, it's a step in the right direction, because you're causing them to think about something in a new way and opening their mind. If I can convert 100 people from atheist to agnostic, odds are at least one of them will eventually find God sometime in their life.

There are many steps in a person's spiritual growth. There are some people who prepare the ground, some people who plant the seed, and some people who water the plant and help it grow. Those who prepare the ground are people like me who promote open-mindedness to religion. The people who plant the seed are the ones who convince them to convert. And those water the plant are the people who help Christians grow in their faith so that they won't fall away. These are all equally important, and can all be done by different people, you don't necessarily have to have done all 3 in order to consider yourself a succesful witness.

 

[monkeystink]

I like to ask their opinions about God. What do you think aout God? Do you believe God's real? Where is God? While they offer opinions you start to pray in your mind for guidance. Begin witnessing with a good discussion without putting down their beliefs, but planting seeds of truth.

You might start like this...

You: Do you believe in God (or maybe a higher power)?
Friend: Yeah I suppose.
You: Who is God to you?
Friend: Some guy up there that sends people to hell for doing bad.
You: Anything else come to mind?
Friend: I guess that I never really thought about it.
You : I can see how it's easy to think of him as a Judge on a cloud
but do you ever think that he made all of us and doesn't
want to loose any of us? Did you ever think that he has a
plan?
Friend: That sounds like something a friend of mine said once.
You : What did he/she say?

(opening a dialog for frank and truthful discussion. You probally saw a few chances to open that conversation up to witnessing, but I caution you to take your time.) You will be more apt to share ideas if you lead them slowly into conversation. There is so much negative crud out there about Christians that it is so difficult to get this conversation going. If you down their beliefs you stand to loose them. If you rush into the "all have sinned" you stand to loose them. Right now is time to plant the seed. Later you will cultivate it (sharing the truth about sin and salvation.) You will do this when you feel that they are ready for it (pray about this...of course.) The Lord will do the rest.

I have had some success with this. I have also watched as the Holy Spirit has taken over the conversation for me. I have been led through the whole process as I prayed silently for help. I'll never understand it, but it's awesome!

Blessings in Jesus name,
Eric

 

[soulfire365]

Thanks so much for all the advice!
God Bless!

 

[ImHisServant]

For me witnessing to someone is sharing a testimony to something relevent to the conversation that is already taking place. For example: If someone is struggling with a sin or family problem that I have been through... I can share how I was once where they are and how God helped, guided and set me free or gave me victory. I'm not really then putting pressure on them... only sharing my expierence and what helped me... then maybe, just maybe they will wonder if that would work for them as well. Hopefully that will compell them to learn more about God. When I think of the phrase "Can I get a witness", to me it means someone who can relate or has expierence in what is being said... as in been there done that... but look what God has done!!!!!

 

[Philt]

Before you do any kind of witnessing, you must pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before you and opens the person's heart. If the Holy Spirit does not go before you that person will not get saved. You have received some good advice here. All these things are effective. Planting a seed is a great thing to do. As a biker witnessing to bikers I have found that just a simple statement can lead to greatness. I have found that you can simply tell a person that God loves them. I have seen a simple statement like that lead to the person meeting Jesus. I have a friend that told me that he prayed for God to give him more courage. He said that God asked him, "How hard is it to tell people that I love them?" Since that time he has become a fantastic witness and I have seen that simple statement work wonders!
You also need to pray that God will give you the right things to say. Ask Him to give you courage and to provide situations to witness effectively.
When you pray, pray for people that you know or meet specifically. Call their name out to God. Pray for them continually. There is great power in prayer.
God Bless You!

 

[monkeystink]

Before you do any kind of witnessing, you must pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before you and opens the person's heart. If the Holy Spirit does not go before you that person will not get saved. You have received some good advice here. All these things are effective. Planting a seed is a great thing to do. As a biker witnessing to bikers I have found that just a simple statement can lead to greatness. I have found that you can simply tell a person that God loves them. I have seen a simple statement like that lead to the person meeting Jesus. I have a friend that told me that he prayed for God to give him more courage. He said that God asked him, "How hard is it to tell people that I love them?" Since that time he has become a fantastic witness and I have seen that simple statement work wonders!
You also need to pray that God will give you the right things to say. Ask Him to give you courage and to provide situations to witness effectively.
When you pray, pray for people that you know or meet specifically. Call their name out to God. Pray for them continually. There is great power in prayer.
God Bless You!

AMEN!

 

[Slayton]

Before you do any kind of witnessing, you must pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before you and opens the person's heart. If the Holy Spirit does not go before you that person will not get saved. You have received some good advice here. All these things are effective. Planting a seed is a great thing to do. As a biker witnessing to bikers I have found that just a simple statement can lead to greatness. I have found that you can simply tell a person that God loves them. I have seen a simple statement like that lead to the person meeting Jesus. I have a friend that told me that he prayed for God to give him more courage. He said that God asked him, "How hard is it to tell people that I love them?" Since that time he has become a fantastic witness and I have seen that simple statement work wonders!
You also need to pray that God will give you the right things to say. Ask Him to give you courage and to provide situations to witness effectively.
When you pray, pray for people that you know or meet specifically. Call their name out to God. Pray for them continually. There is great power in prayer.
God Bless You!

I was going to say that..but he worded it a bit better!

Even if you feel like you've only opened up a few people to the possiblity of God that is already a amazing success! Just remember that the opinions of the people you talk to doesnt matter, because in the end Jesus will still love and support you forever! So don't be afraid to talk to them..whats the worse they could do to you? Kill you and send you to Heaven? (Not the best example...but hopefully you get what I mean ) Although I am a very shy person and have yet to take my own advice I think it still stands true..

 

[Ms.Garnet]

Soulfire, I am thrilled to read of your desire to be a witness for our Lord. You have been given some extremely good advise on these post - especially like Philt said : pray before going out the door that as the Lord reveals opportunities to share of His love - that He will prick that person's heart to be receptive as you venture to share & that He will impress you with the words that will be effective & that He will draw that person unto Himself. You have begun a good work & I encourage you to keep at it. Sometimes your witness may be just in your attitude, the way you treat a person, a comment you make that gives praise & honor to the Lord. A co-worker or friend may see you bow your head for a prayer, or see that you listen to Christian music, and at a later time they might ask why you do that . You may not always be able to have a full conversation - but you might be planting a seed that erupts in that person's heart and causes them at a later time to seek you out (or perhaps they seek another Christian they trust) - so that later you might have the opportunity to engage in full conversation or venture to share a plan of salvation if the Lord leads you to do that. Sometimes the Lord is already working in a person's heart and you venture to share/witness and that person is ripe for salvation and you are given the chance to share how a person can be saved. This link : http://www.pixi.com/~mysc/abc.html will give you a VERY simple plan/way to witness. It is the ABC's of Salvation and if you go there on the first page you will see the A, B, and C & what each letter/point stands for and then if you click on each letter it will take you to a fuller explanation and a few scriptures to support the point you want to make. It is a very basic and simple way to learn a plan of salvation and it gives you a sample prayer you can share with someone who wants to pray to receive the Lord as saviour. NO - I do not attend the church that posted that site - I just put ABC's of salvation in my search bar and that was the first one. I have heard of this plan for years and use it most often with young children because they relate to the ABC's. You don't even have to mention ABC - that is just an acronym to help you remember the 3 basic needs a person has to admit/accept in order to come to the Lord. I encourage you to learn a simple plan of salvation so that when someone allows you to persue the witness you will have the information to share so they can understand what they must do to be saved. As you grow spiritually you can learn deeper/longer ways to witness. Experience will help you know better what to say, how to approach the witness effort. If you attend an evangelical church see if they have a class that teaches how to witness. Perhaps they will consider one if you ask & other people might really be glad someone is offering such a class. Bless you as you strive to serve the Lord!

 

[madison1101]

These are all great ideas. But also know that our lives can be a witness to the Lord. Just having someone see you live righteously can cause them to ask questions. Not cheating on tests, not participating in premarital sex, being holy and pure will cause people to wonder why you don't do those things, and then you will have opportunities to share what God means to you and how you want to live obediently to Him.

God bless you for your willingness to step out in faith and share the Good News.

 

[Philt]

I just want to add one more thought. I think it is awesome that a 17 yr old young lady is excited about and wants to learn to be an effective witness so that souls will come to know Christ!!!!
You go girl!!!!!!!!

 

[lacey_liza]

Before you do any kind of witnessing, you must pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before you and opens the person's heart. If the Holy Spirit does not go before you that person will not get saved. You have received some good advice here. All these things are effective. Planting a seed is a great thing to do. As a biker witnessing to bikers I have found that just a simple statement can lead to greatness. I have found that you can simply tell a person that God loves them. I have seen a simple statement like that lead to the person meeting Jesus. I have a friend that told me that he prayed for God to give him more courage. He said that God asked him, "How hard is it to tell people that I love them?" Since that time he has become a fantastic witness and I have seen that simple statement work wonders!
You also need to pray that God will give you the right things to say. Ask Him to give you courage and to provide situations to witness effectively.
When you pray, pray for people that you know or meet specifically. Call their name out to God. Pray for them continually. There is great power in prayer.
God Bless You!

YES YES YES YES YES!!!

 

[nsmith12916]

This is a problem I have too... My friends are Atheist/Agnostic/Wiccan, and i jst can't seem to plant the seed. Three of those friends go to my youth group, but my church's youth group is beyond lax. (it's hard to explain that part) Most of the people there believe in God, but the majority of them don't seem care. I have been trying to get another friiend to start coming, to see if the place can help plant the seed, but I am wondering if the place is the wrong place for him to be. I am working on planting th seed, but he just keeps hardening his heart.

I am bad at witnessing. it always turns into a full blown argument in which I have to defend Christianity, Jesus/God, and my Faith. They harden their hearts so much, and say such blasphemus things about God, that I frankly don't want to repeat the censored versions. It makes me feel as though it is time to give up on them. What should I do?

 

[FirstStrikeForce]

I've never really been "taught" how to witness or anything, and I'm embarrassed to ask any of my Christian friends for advice, so I've pretty much been winging it for the last 2 years, which is when I started trying. I don't get many opportunities during school 'cuz it's pretty fast paced, and I've never even had the chance to see someone else witness to someone. I really, really want to witness effectively, but all I've been able to do is open up a couple people to the possibility that God exists. So, if anyone can give me tips, or tell me where I can find some, that would be great! Also, I've a friend who won't respond whenever I try to witness to him, like if I ask if he thinks there's a God, he'll just get a blank look on his face and won't answer; what can I do about that? Thanks for your time!

You witness God, you testify to people.

From God we get the Light, to others we share the Light.

Find more of the Lord first, then go out and testify.

 

[Philt]

This is a problem I have too... My friends are Atheist/Agnostic/Wiccan, and i jst can't seem to plant the seed. Three of those friends go to my youth group, but my church's youth group is beyond lax. (it's hard to explain that part) Most of the people there believe in God, but the majority of them don't seem care. I have been trying to get another friiend to start coming, to see if the place can help plant the seed, but I am wondering if the place is the wrong place for him to be. I am working on planting th seed, but he just keeps hardening his heart.

I am bad at witnessing. it always turns into a full blown argument in which I have to defend Christianity, Jesus/God, and my Faith. They harden their hearts so much, and say such blasphemus things about God, that I frankly don't want to repeat the censored versions. It makes me feel as though it is time to give up on them. What should I do?

Again, I can't stress enough the power of prayer! Pray that God will work a miracle in your youth group. Pray for your friends specifically, calling out there name to God. When you are with them, try to avoid arguments, but remain steadfast to your beliefs. I know that is hard to do, but God will give you the strength. Remember Your side wins!!!!
God Bless You.

 

[breatheprayer]

Sometimes the best way to witness to people is to show them love through actions. Depending on the person, that may speak louder.

 

[FiRePrOoF_bUnNy]

Witnessing isnt just talking to people and sharing the good news. It can also be setting an example in non christian communities.. for example not getting drunk at parties, not taking part in gossip, not swearing or using bad language, having a servant heart for people anything really! So that they can see you living for God. That can be a way of witnessing to people