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!
There are as many kinds of Jews as there are people. Some are religious and some are not, but like all other people Jews will bring assumptions to the reading of Scripture, to the concept of God and to the claims of Yeshua, Jesus.
For a Jewish person, religious or not, these assumptions are likely influenced, directly or indirectly, by the Tanakh, the Jewish Hebrew Bible. These are also the assumptions that Jesus Himself, along with His followers, held.
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!