Prayer Evangelism: Part 3 - Pray for Boldness

For the past couple of weeks, we have been looking at different aspects of prayer in evangelism (Part 1 & Part 2). Together, we have seen the need to pray for the lost and also to pray for workers, but today’s topic may cause you to become a little bit uncomfortable. Not only are we to pray for the conversion of people, and for workers to go to them, but we should also pray that the Lord would grant us the boldness to make much of Jesus.

I’ve been involved in evangelistic work for about eighteen years; in that time, I have spoken to thousands of people in a variety of evangelistic settings, from one-to-one witnessing right through to preaching large gospel rallies, but let me tell you a little secret… I still get terrified every time I have to speak to the lost. I’ve had people come up to me asking, “How can I not be afraid in evangelism?” To which I have to reply, “When you discover how to do that, please let me know!”

Fear in evangelism isn’t uncommon; even the Apostle Paul mentioned trembling in 1 Corinthians 2:3. When you go to share the good news with the lost, you may feel your hands getting sweaty, your heart rate increases and a lump appears in your throat, so what are we supposed to do?

The solution is prayer. I know that can sound cliché in Christian ministry, “Do you have a problem? Well pray about it!” But in this case, it is actually true; so, what I want to do is show you from Scripture how we are to respond to fear in evangelism.

In Acts 4:29-31 we read,  

“And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 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.

To understand this passage, we need to be aware of the context. In Acts 4 we are told that Peter and John have been confronted by the Jewish religious leaders over their preaching of Jesus being the Messiah. The religious authorities weren’t impressed with this message, so they took it upon themselves to threaten the Apostles. These threats weren’t idle; it was only a few months earlier that Jesus had appeared before the religious leaders, and as a result He was crucified. This is a very real and dangerous situation for Peter and John. Threats are being made; they are being told to not spread the gospel. How do the Apostles respond? By praying.

We often look at the Apostles as ‘super-Christians’ but in reality, they were fallen men just like us. They were afraid, just as we get afraid. Yet, in the midst of their fear they begin to pray; they seek the Lord, and they ask for boldness. God hears this prayer, and He answers in a way that shakes the place, with the Apostles being empowered “to speak the word of God boldly.”

When they were afraid, they prayed, and God gave boldness to His servants. This doesn’t mean that fear disappeared, rather, what we have is courage and boldness to make much of Jesus even in the midst of fear. Boldness in evangelism doesn’t mean you will never be afraid, but what it does mean is that you will suppress that fear in order to be obedient to God’s commands, and to love your neighbour.

In our own strength we are unable to evangelise, so we must rely upon the emboldening power of the Holy Spirit. We need to seek the Lord through prayer if we are going to be effective in reaching the lost. The Apostles had to pray for boldness and so do we; we cannot evangelise in our own power.

The Apostle Paul knew his limitations, which is why in Ephesians 6:19-20 he says, 

Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

Paul needed boldness to speak – so do we! Paul is often held up as an example of one whom we should follow, yet as we look at him, we see that he was frail just like we are - he was afraid, and he needed boldness to proclaim the gospel. If you are fearful in evangelism, then you are in good company! The solution to overcoming fear is not to pray, “Lord, remove my fear,” rather it is to pray, “Lord, give me boldness and courage to speak of Jesus even though I am afraid.”

It is easy for us to pray for the conversion of the lost and for workers to be raised up, but now we need to pray that the Lord would make us bold so we can witness. When we engage in prayer evangelism, we need to pray that we would be used to evangelise also. It isn’t a case of “Lord, raise up workers, but I am not available.” No, it must be, “Lord, raise up workers to reach the lost, please give me the boldness to open my mouth for you.”

I know you are afraid (I am too!), but we must seek the Lord for the empowering of the Holy Spirit so that we can have the boldness needed to make much of Jesus. Today, begin to pray that the Lord will enable you to proclaim Christ in your area of influence. May the Lord grant all of us the boldness to proclaim Jesus.