5 ways to stress less when evangelising

Telling people about Jesus is important, but conversion is God's work

Talking to your friends about what you believe can be very hard work! Sometimes they might listen to you for a while, other times they might tell you to go away, and sometimes it's hard to even get started.

Here's a few things to remember, which might help take the pressure off, next time you have an opportunity for evangelism:

1) God is capable of working without your help

Even if your friend won’t talk about Jesus with you, that doesn’t mean God is helpless! He can be working in ways that you don’t know about inside your friend's heart.

2) God doesn’t rely on you getting it all right all the time

He uses us to bring people into his kingdom, and that is an honour. But he is perfectly capable of doing it without us too. No matter what you do, even if you make the wrong call with your friend and screw up really badly, nothing can put them out of the reach of God.

3) Prayer is the most important evangelistic activity.

You have to rely on God. You literally can’t "convert" someone yourself - you can only pass on the good news of Jesus. It's up to God whether the person actually turns to him.

4) Continue living your christian life publicly with integrity

Your friends know you are a Christian, and they will be watching the way you live closely. What difference do they see in your life because of your relationship with Jesus?

5) Knowing what to do is difficult and different in each situation

Don’t forget to ask God for wisdom, and he will give it to you (James 1:5). You really can’t go too wrong. Be gentle and respectful (1 Pet 3:15-16), bold and courageous (Josh 1:9) and above all trust God to do the work (Zech 4:6). Think, pray, act and speak wisely. It’s hard, but don’t worry. In the end, the battle is God’s (Prov 21:31) and nobody (including you and your friends) can do anything to upset God’s plan.

This is a summary of a Q&A article - click here for more Q&A articles.