Learning for Life Prayerful Evangelism A course of six sessions that explore the spiritual habits of thinking and behaviour that enable us to become evangelists. Developed by Hugh Dibbens Evangelism Adviser Revised January 2020 for the Barking Episcopal Area Sessions Prayerful Evangelism Sessions Session 1. BE ATTENTIVE: Praying to God the Father • What is ‘Evangelism?’ • Evangelism as DOUBLE LISTENING - Listening to God for people and Listening to people for God • ‘Loud Thoughts’… on keeping a journal Session 2. BE INTENTIONAL and EXPECTANT - Praying with Jesus the Son • Learning from Jesus • Taking risks & asking questions as a way of evangelism • Leading someone towards faith Session 3. BE OVERFLOWING - Praying in the Holy Spirit • Discernment and perseverance • Other religions and cultures • Using the Lord’s Prayer in evangelism: Luke 11:1 - 13 • Using a contact map Session 4. BE COLLABORATIVE - Praying Together – sharing our faith in a team. • The local church in spiritual renewal • The discipline of TEAMWORK • Mission audits. Mission Action Planning. Evangelism Groups • Identifying gifted evangelists in the local congregation Session 5. BE STILL - Praying in Stillness – Evangelism as friendly inclusion • Contemplative Prayer, Religious and Spiritual Experience • Friendship and Evangelism Session 6. BE CONFIDENT - Praying with confidence – evangelism as being and doing • Christian Confidence in the Gospel • The 4Ps of evangelism • Prayerful Evangelism Page 1 Introduction Introduction to Prayerful Evangelism ‘Evangelism is God’s idea, God’s vision and God’s purpose…. and… He invites you and me to join Him in His Mission’ - Mark Russell, CEO of Church Army. It is clear from this statement that if we are to be ‘effective’ in evangelism, we must start with God - the leader of the evangelism mission. He is the One with the master strategy. He is the One who understands the total situation, its opportunities and dangers. He is the One with the resources to make things happen. He is the One who convicts, calls and transforms people. And He is the One who invites you and me to be members of His outreach team. He says – ‘Come & Follow Me! Take My yoke and learn from Me. Stay with Me and we will see amazing things as we build the Kingdom together’- Matt.11v 29 John 15v 4,5. C.S.Lewis taught that there are 4 periods of Time - The Past which we cannot change; The Future which is unknown; The Present where we are now; and Eternity. We and most other people, individually or in organisations, spend most of our planning time and often our thinking time on the Past and the Future. There is obvious benefit in this, because we can learn from the past and we need to know where we hope to go in the future and how we might get there. This has clear relevance to church programmes of evangelism. But the deep reality of life is focussed in the other two periods of time. The Present moment is where we actually are and is the place where we are able to act to make a difference, and evangelism is allowing Eternity, which is the greatest reality of all, to impact the Present moment. In the ‘Screwtape Letters’ one of the temptations recommended is to keep the Christians focussed on the Past and the Future so that the present moment, when the Cross and Resurrection might impact us, is avoided at all costs! If then, we are to be available to God the Holy Spirit in his mission here on earth, then we must be in touch with the great Missioner, in the present moment. We need to have a spiritual disposition and habits of thinking and behaviour which facilitate us to become ever more valuable members of His team. Habits of life and dispositions are high-lighted in this Course – ‘Be Attentive!’, ‘Be Intentional!’… etc. For these to be built into our way of life, there will need to be constant practice so, in order to acquire good habits the ‘homework’ is a vital part of the Course. Rev Canon Hugh Dibbens Barking Area Evangelism Adviser. Page 2 1: Being Session 1 - Being Attentive Attentive Praying to God the Father “The most basic skill oF the evangelist is not to speak, but to listen” Welcome and Worship The group leader could lead the group in prayer – and in subsequent weeks invite members some of the group to do so. Aim: The aim of this session is to develop habits of listening and to form prayer partnerships within the group. Leader input The Group leader provides input on ‘What is evangelism?’ using material in Appendix A. The group is split into pairs. Spend 5 minutes introducing yourselves and then pray together. You could pray about what you want to gain from his course. Please keep your shared thoughts confidential to yourselves. You may wish to change your prayer partner halfway through the course so that you get to know another person in this way. Group activity “Being an evangelist is sharing these stories with prayerful intent to lead the other person to a commitment to Jesus.” (From Appendix A). On a flip chart or other paper draw a human figure and add words or small pictures that describe characteristics of an evangelist. Pay attention to the head: what an evangelist knows and says, the heart: what an evangelist feels and the hands and feet: what an evangelist does. Discussion The Group leader leads a study of Jesus’ own objectives in evangelism from Luke 3:21-22 & 4:1-21. Break Discussion The Group leader leads some conversation about the place of prayer in the evangelism including discussion of the following two assertions: • Being prayerFul is the way to be attentive to the direction oF God the Father and join in God’s own action in the world. • The most basic ability oF the evangelist is not to speak but to listen. Leader input The Group Leader describes ‘Double listening’ using the guidelines: I. Listening to people for God II. Listening to God for people Page 1 Listening Guidelines I: Listening to people for the God. • Pray inwardly for God’s blessing on the person and give them your total attention. • Read their body language as well as what they say – Pray for understanding. • Listen beneath the spoken words to what are the feelings and attitudes being expressed. As you perceive them offer them to God. • Be aware of your own personal feelings and reactions and put them deliberately ‘on hold’. • Consider inwardly whether God wants you to make any comment and if so take courage. II: Listening to God for people. • In quiet personal prayer recall what you remember of the conversation with the person God has led you to engage with. • Re-live some of the conversation before God. • Offer to God any needs or concerns of your own asking for His healing • Sit quietly and focussed to see if God gives you any insight. Sometimes inspiration is given in this context sometimes later. • Ask for wisdom and appropriate opportunity to engage further. Listening Exercise In groups of three, each person shares in turn, for maximum of 3 minutes, a personal experience. A second person listens, following the guidelines given for double listening. The third person acts as observer and timekeeper. After each person’s story there might be a brief prayer or time of quiet. It maybe that the listener might feel they should say something … please be brief! Leader input The homework is introduced: Try to do at least some of these activities, especially the first: • Pray daily for your prayer partner. • Read two articles, Appendix B and C: ‘A Biblical Example of Double Listening’ and ‘The ABBA prayer of Jesus’ • Read next session’s Bible passage: . Luke 10:1-12. • Deliberately practice ‘double listening’. Try to get this to become a part of your life- style. • Pray regularly for opportunities to share some of the Good News with others. • If you do not already do so, start a prayer journal (book or digital document) to record what you think God might be saying to you and your reflections. Page 2 Final prayers The Pleshey Exhortation: Walk soFtly in the way oF God Listen gently to the Voice oF God it quietly in the Love oF God Pray humbly to the Heart oF God Act boldly in the Strength oF God Go Forth in His name! Page 3 2: Being Intentional & Expectant Session 2 - Being Intentional and Expectant! Praying with Jesus Learning to take risks and to ask questions Welcome and Worship Led by members of the group. Aim The aim of this session is to know that Jesus prays with us and that we can learn from the way he shared the Good News Prayer Prayer Partners should spend some time together sharing any experiences of ‘double listening’. Discussion Read . Luke 10:1-12. Jesus taught his disciples how to be evangelists by sending them out to do it: giving them instructions and then hearing from them afterwards. So this passage represents His master class in evangelism! Questions v 1 How do we recognise and develop a sense of ‘being sent’ or ‘appointed’? v 2 How do we identify others who might share in ‘gathering the harvest’? v 3-4 Three spiritual attitudes of effective evangelists – 1. Making oneself vulnerable (taking risks for God is at the heart of evangelism) 2. Trusting God to provide 3. Sustaining a sense of urgency (‘Greetings on the road’ in Jesus’ day could take anything from half an hour to half a day!) v 5- 7 Be discerning of where people are in their faith journey.