Several years ago, I sat in the locker room after my swim. I heard these words in my mind, “Ask the young front staff, how I could pray for them.” A few moments later, another word came, “Pray for the person who gives you eye contact and smiles.”
I stood up and the guy sitting across from me smiled and said enthusiastically, “Hi!” I also said, “hi,” and then walked out. I sensed the Holy Spirit saying, “Go back and ask how I could pray for him.”
“I’m Mark Pomeroy. What’s your name?” He said, “Larry (not his real name).”
“How could I pray for you?” I spoke. He looked up and said, “My best friend from high school who’s a pastor asked me the same question yesterday!” Larry shared tough personal information about growing up with his friend. We exchanged phone numbers and he agreed to meet me again at a coffee shop. We met up again not too long after that. I was able to share my testimony. He then shared more details about how he grew up. We agreed to meet again and keep talking.
Too often we take these God-given opportunities to share our faith for granted. Sometimes we get timid with the prospect of telling others about Jesus. But God wants us to be bold and be confident in our witness.
One of my favorite Bible stories illustrating someone listening to the Holy Spirit and sharing the gospel is Phillip in Acts 8. Here, an angel then led Philip on a desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza where he met an Ethiopian eunuch who came to Jerusalem to worship. The Spirit told Philip to ask if the eunuch understood what he was reading from the prophet Isaiah. The eunuch said he needed a guide and invited Philip to sit in the chariot with him. He read the passage, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth . . . For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked if it referred to the prophet or someone else. Beginning with this Scripture, Philip preached Jesus to him. The eunuch then believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and Philip baptized him. When they both came out of the water, the Spirit snatched Philip away to Azotus, where he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
Jerram Barrs wrote the following concerning this passage: “Our hearts magnify the Lord’s saving work in drawing this man [the Ethiopian eunuch] to himself. We do not read this story and think, ‘Wasn’t Philip a wonderful, clever, and bold evangelist!’ Rather, we praise God. This is as it ought to be whenever we hear of a believer leading someone to faith, for then, in just the same way as in this Bible story, God is bringing two people together. We need to learn to see God’s work rather than thinking how courageous, intelligent, clear-speaking, and good we are as evangelists. I am not saying the human role is unimportant, for Philip needed to be obedient to the Spirit’s call; he needed to talk to the Ethiopian and to make the Scriptures clear to him. Yet, because of the way the story is told, we know that God is the One who is most to be praised when we read of this man’s conversion.”
The Spirit of God directs us and gives us opportunities to share our faith with others. Have you experienced the Holy Spirit leading you to someone so you could preach the gospel to them? I want to challenge you to ask the Holy Spirit to lead you every day. Then listen throughout the day for His instructions.
