Prayer as Evangelism

Webster’s Dictionary defines evangelism “as the winning or revival of a personal commitment to Christ.” People sometimes think of large meetings. Actually, people often make commitments in less public settings. Prayer plays a big part in those commitments. As people find their needs met through prayer, they come into relationship with God. With relationship comes commitment. We will discuss several settings where people pray in ways that reach out to others. There are probably many more creative ways to pray as evangelism.

Healing Prayer: What better place to have a healing prayer service than at a Christian medical office or hospital? Including prayer in the treatment gives God the true credit for healing.

“If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the

name of the Lord. If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them. If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.” (James 5:14-15, CEV)

At Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute doctors offer to pray with patients before surgery. At Walla Walla

General Hospital patients can request staff to pray. Personnel announce “Code Love” over the intercom. All hospital workers who want to, pause briefly to offer a prayer for the person.

A story of healing prayer as evangelism comes from India.

“Doc, do you have a prayer meeting going on in this hospital? There are so many people coming here. What an opportunity it would be to start a healing prayer meeting every Saturday.”

Dr. Philip from Puna Adventist Hospital in India looked at this former gambler, alcoholic and smoker, still stunned by the story the man had told.

“Most people thought I was a loafer, but for 35 years I longed to be changed. Every time I tried, I failed. I was fed up. A few months ago at the Khadki bazaar, I saw a house full of praying people and quietly joined the group. It seemed like the bearded lay-preacher spoke only to me, reminding me of my past life.

“At the end of the meeting, he prayed. And I had an experience I will never forget. I just couldn’t control myself. I wept and wept for quite a long time. I felt a longing to follow this preacher wherever he went.

“So during the evenings when I was free, I joined him. Over a couple of months, I had not even realized I had given up smoking, gambling and alcohol. I felt peace in my heart, and Jesus became my friend. I could pray to Him, and He listened to me like a friend and father.

“I began to witness to my workers in Bajaj Auto. I no longer skipped duty. Friends began to wonder at my changed attitude. Over the past six months, I have led many of my colleagues to Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Philip had known this man for years. Formerly he had come for many excuses for missed work. Dr. Philip had given up on him. Now he marveled at the remarkable change.

Dr. Philip liked the idea of a healing prayer service. Jesus had healed many people on Sabbath. In his experience, he had felt a significant healing presence on Saturday.

His former patient suggested that his preacher could help set up a healing prayer service. The preacher came a long way for several months, paying his own way. He invited Dr. Philip to join him in all-day prayer sessions on mountain sides.

Since 2000, the Saturday afternoon healing prayer service at Puna Adventist Hospital has grown. Fifty to 100 attend. Meeting on the badminton court, they sing, share stories of God’s working in response to healing prayer and most of all they pray. (McGhee et al, pp. 92-94)

It has been said that certain famous evangelists wouldn’t come to a region to do evangelistic campaigns unless the church(es) would pray for a full year first. What would happen if all churches prayed this way during all years? What if the burden of their prayers all the time was more on people who need God than on Aunt Martha’s broken hip, much though Aunt Martha’s hip (and her heart) is a good reason to pray?

Prayer Walking: Have you ever walked through a neighborhood praying for the inhabitants of each house as you walked? This is prayer walking. Prayer walking opens the praying person’s mind to see the needs. Prayer walking can be done alone, in small groups, or larger groups. It is especially powerful if the prayer walkers are also watching for ways to put their hearts into real actions, whether official outreach events through the church as a whole, or just personal ways to meet the needs of those whose homes they are passing.

If walking with others, limit conversation to allow yourself to focus on prayer. If you meet someone greet them pleasantly and offer a silent prayer for that person. At times a person may feel impressed to meet the people in a particular house. One possible opening comment could be, “We are just walking through the neighborhood praying for people in each house. Is there something specific that you would like us to pray about today?” If a person answers, yes, and names a specific situation, then one could say, “Would you like me to pray with you now?”

However, suppose a person starts a prayer walk in a neighborhood without knowing anyone. No strong impressions come to initiate meeting any neighborhood residents. The big question comes, “What do I pray for?”

What are some things God promises to give us that everyone could use? Here are some possibilities: Love, Peace, Guidance, Protection, Healing, The Holy Spirit, Wisdom, Forgiveness.

And here are some verses that promise to fill these needs. There are others.

Love—1 John 4:16-19

Peace—Isaiah 26:3

Guidance—Proverbs 6:3

Protection—Psalm 9:9

Healing—James 5:13-15

The Holy Spirit—John 14:15-16

Wisdom—James 1:5

Forgiveness—1 John 1:9

As we pray, we can remember this verse. “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:16, NASB) A righteous man? Who is that? “There is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalms 14:3, Romans 3:10, NASB) But we do not despair.

Remember, what I cannot do, Christ can do in me through His Holy Spirit that lives in me. As I hide myself in Christ, God sees me as innocent and righteous. God wants us to ask. Jesus told us to ask, over and over again.

As we claim Christ’s righteousness in us, we lose pride in our own righteousness. When a prayer is answered, we don’t know who among the group God was answering. Who hid themselves enough in Christ’s righteousness to claim the answer? We don’t know. It’s useless trying to answer. The focus shifts to God’s answer rather than who prayed the prayer. “The prayer of an innocent man [in Christ] is powerful and it can help a lot.” (James 5:16)

Through our prayers God will help other people. Then they will know God, and they will pray for others, and they will pray for still others, and soon the whole earth will be filled with His glory and He’ll come to take us home with Him, where once again, we will walk and talk face to face with God.