Three reasons to pray before evangelism

In our Jewish scriptures, the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, we read about a series of men who speak on behalf of God. These are the prophets.

The prophets’ job was to communicate on behalf of God to people. A common motif at the start of these prophetic careers is the moment of commissioning - the moments when the prophet first encounters God in a unique way (often accompanied by a “vision”, e.g. Isaiah’s vision of God on His throne or Ezekiel’s vision of God on His chariot) through prayer. Each and every prophet spoke first with God before speaking with the people. Why was Isaiah in the temple after the death of Uzziah? To pray!

We may not be prophets in the sense these men were, but every Christian has an essentially ‘prophetic’ message: we are all called to share the gospel of the Lord, in which He has encountered us, with those we meet.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “before you speak to man about God, speak to God about man”? Why? The Great Commission is to share the gospel, not to pray for people! I want to suggest a few reasons to pray before sharing the gospel with your Jewish friend.

1) Prayer changes them.

Prayer affects the world. I truly believe this. Prayer changes circumstances. I remember speaking with a relative of mine a few years ago - he is a secular Jew. He told me that if God Himself were to call to Him, by name, out of the skies, he still wouldn’t believe in Him. He’d believe he had had some kind of ‘episode’ and dismiss this experience. Unless God does a work to soften his heart, he will not accept the gospel. The reality is that most Jews don’t believe in God. The pain and suffering of the Jewish people have led them to believe that the God of their ancestors does not exist and that, if He does, He is either impotent or malevolent. Pray that the Holy Spirit goes before you and softens their hearts.

2) Prayer changes us.

Perhaps the primary reason for prayer is to change us. When we pray, a few things happen. Our desires, our loves, begin to be reshaped and reordered in line with God’s will and priorities. This includes growing in love for your Jewish friend and desiring to see them come to Christ.

It also reminds us of our dependence upon God. We really are most effectual when we see how ineffectual we naturally are. The core of the Gospel is subversive and unexpected. We gain our life, when we are willing to lose it, we become truly successful when we give up our desire for worldly success; it is those who the world see as cursed who are truly blessed, and we are most powerful when we are most dependent. What’s more, if you’ve been sharing your faith for any length of time, you will know that there are times when an idea, an “argument”, a verse pops into your head seemingly from outside of yourself. We want this to happen. Stay close to God, and He will stay close to you.

3) Prayer is obedience.

God calls us to pray. To pray for more workers, to pray for the unsaved, to pray for the Jewish people and the peace of Jerusalem. Jesus even modelled this when He wept over Jerusalem. Paul said that he prayed for his Jewish people. In prayer for the unsaved, for our Jewish friend, we walk as Christ and the apostles walk; we walk in communion with and obedience to God. The Scriptures are filled with commands to pray (e.g. Phil 4:6; Col 4:2; 1 Thess 5:17). To pray is to obey.

Don’t know how to pray for the Jewish people? Check out jewsforjesus.org