Preparing Yourself for Spiritual Conversations

Dr. Bill Bright, Cru’s co-founder, said that “successful witnessing is taking the initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” In Cru, we believe that Christians are called to make the first move toward not-yet-believers around us. It is not always easy.

However, we can learn a lot from Jesus. He took the initiative with the people around Him and opened up the door for spiritual conversations. 

Throughout His ministry, Jesus used engaging questions to challenge people’s expectations and soften their hearts. Jesus was an expert in asking the right questions in order to dive through surface-level discussion and reach heart level.

Starting spiritual conversations the way Jesus did is a habit many want to develop but find nearly impossible to maintain.

Why is it so hard to take those first steps?  Below are some ways you can prepare yourself for these incredible conversations.

Barriers to Boldness

Can you relate to this situation? You are talking with a friend, they share something vulnerable with you, and you end up just staring at them, tongue-tied!

You might be able to get out a comment, but soon after, you realize you have missed a golden opportunity for the gospel. You have known this person for a long time, and that only seems to make it harder to talk about the real things that matter in life. Why is that?

This is due to a few different reasons: 

  • spiritual shyness 
  • a lack of reliance on the Spirit
  • fear of rejection

Overcome Fears

We all have different levels of fear or concern when it comes to talking to others about Jesus. When we look at the way Jesus talks to people about Himself, we soon see that He has the antidote to our personal barriers to boldness.

  • Jesus was casual.
    In John 4, He started a conversation with a Samaritan woman over a simple drink of water. Once she responded, He used His listening skills to take the conversation into deeper things, eternal life, and her personal felt needs. 
  • Jesus modeled complete reliance on the Holy Spirit.
    He relied on the Holy Spirit to keep Him from sin (Luke 4). He got alone with God often (Luke 5:16, Mark 1:35). The best part is that He pours the Holy Spirit into those who believe in Him (Acts 2:33), so we too can have access to God’s power through the same Spirit!
  • Jesus taught us to fear God, not humans.
    He shows us God’s special care for us (Matthew 10:28-31) and consistently demonstrated a concern for people’s eternal destiny above their present comfort (Mark 10:17-23). He taught that whatever loss we have in this world- relationship, money, comfort, anything- will be repaid exponentially in heaven.

When we fully grasp these three things, we will see that it is not up to our presentation to change the hearts of people. It’s up to God. We are just starting the conversation.

Jesus modeled complete reliance on the Holy Spirit and gave us the gift of the Spirit.

Avoid Christian Slang

Once we start a conversation, one way to help remove some barriers that others might have is to make sure that we are both speaking the same language.

We have started a podcast as one of our digital ministry strategies. Since this podcast is geared toward high school students, we have to be careful to watch our usage of “Christianese,” those words that only Christians seem to use. If we do use a technical term that most “not-yet-Christians” do not know, we take time to explain what we mean.

  • Instead of “sanctification” → say “becoming more like Jesus”
  • Instead of “sin” → say “bad things we do”
  • Instead of “testimony” → say “my spiritual journey”
  • Instead of “fellowship” → say “community”

It is hard to communicate without Christian jargon because we are so used to speaking about our faith using inside language! We can humbly drop the insider “Christianese” in conversations because we do not want to risk going over someone’s head (making them feel like an outsider) when we try to approach spiritual topics. 

Once again we look to Jesus. He often used fishing terms and agricultural language to communicate spiritual truths. This might make Jesus’ parables seem confusing. However, to His audience who fished and farmed all day, these parables made total sense! He spoke to them in a language they would understand.

Furthermore, Jesus strongly cautioned His disciples against using many words or praying in order to impress people with their vocabulary (Matthew 6:5-8). His message resonated with those who were “poor in spirit,” the people who did not think they had life figured out.

When we care about people the way Jesus did, we change the words we use to better communicate with others.

Retreat, React, or Respond

Relaxing and clearly communicating are important in our interactions with others. But what happens if someone does not relax with us? What if they react poorly when we try to share our faith?

Let’s look again at John 4. In verses 10-14, Jesus turned His conversation with the Samaritan woman from a request for water to an offer for living water- real satisfaction. He turned the conversation to spiritual issues.

At first, the woman wanted to challenge Christ’s claim to have the answers to life (verses 11-12): “How can you know the truth? No one knows for sure.” This is not unusual. Some people may respond this way, even after we have established a friendship. 

There are three ways we could respond to someone who questions us as the Samaritan woman questioned Jesus.

  1. We could back off, retreat, and give up, trying to avoid offending someone.
  2. We could react or argue, trying to win a debate or impress people with what we know.
  3. We could continue to engage, inviting them to consider spiritual truth.

It is important to not get into arguments with people. 2 Timothy 2:23-26 calls us to “not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting opponents with gentleness.” Instead of fighting hard for our stance, we can take a posture of humility, kindness, and patience. We can simply let the truth, not our argument, be compelling.

The results are in God’s hands. “God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (verses 25-26). 

We do not need to argue for God, but that does not mean we retreat either. Some people are unhappy and dissatisfied with life. This can make them argumentative, just like the Samaritan woman. In the text, it appears that she did not seem to want Jesus to back off and leave her alone. People who challenge us seldom do.

In fact, if Jesus had given up and walked away, it’s likely the Samaritan woman would have been disappointed. “Well, I guess He Himself is not that convinced.” Instead, Jesus kept His focus on her real need, not her reactions, and it helped her trust Him.

If we humbly engage with people who disagree with us, we will be treating them with dignity and trusting God with the results at the same time.

It is important to not get into arguments with people with whom we initiate.

Action Steps for Your Journey

As we wrap up, here are some suggestions that will help you take the initiative:

  1. Pray specifically for opportunities to share Christ.
    Pray for your friends and students by name. If God brings a specific person to mind, shoot them a text right then, asking to meet up.
  2. Look for opportunities.
    If you have asked God for an opportunity to share, then expect it. Your friend may ask a question, express a personal need, or give an opinion, hoping you will respond. God is in control. Take a step of faith. Care about your friend.
  3. Create opportunities.
    When people were not coming to Jesus, He went to them. This can be the most important and exciting part of your ministry. Create opportunities by setting up a special time to eat, grab coffee, or do something outdoors on a nice day. Be very honest as to why you would like to get together. Explain that, sometime, you would love to hear about their spiritual journey and share about yours.
  4. Consider the immense importance of someone knowing Christ.
    Jesus did the single most loving act in the history of the universe on the cross. Ask God to give you a heart of compassion to share the love of Christ. These Scripture verses will help: Matthew 9:36-39; Romans 10:13-15; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 5:10.
  5. Do not be afraid of failure.
    The results are up to God. There is no pressure to share everything that you know about the gospel all at once. Start with sharing a piece of God’s love that connects well with them. 
  6. Teamwork.
    Try pairing up with a Christian friend to pray together for those with whom you want to share (Matthew 18:19). Create opportunities together for team evangelism (Luke 10:1). Share this article with another believer who wants to share their faith, and talk through it together. 

By Faith, Break Down the Barriers

For sharing to become a way of life, we need to be thinking and planning ahead and focusing our attention and concern on those around us who do not know our Lord. The more we concern ourselves with the needs of others, the more natural it will be to share Christ.

By faith, we can break down the “dividing walls of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14) in our lives, since Jesus already has. After you have shared this article with your friend, pray for a few people to initiate with, and trust God with the results. 

“When you awaken each morning, thank the Lord Jesus for living within you and ask Him to use your lips to speak of His love and forgiveness at every opportunity throughout the day.” – Dr. Bill Bright
Next Step
Share this article with a friend, pray for the Holy Spirit to open up an opportunity, step into it, and trust God with the results.
Evangelism
This article is part of the Evangelism Collection. Read the rest of these articles to get an even better understanding of how to share your faith with students.

RECENT POSTS

The Claim Your Campus Prayer Strategy

CYC is an organization that exists to empower middle and high school students to pray for change on their campus. Their goal is to get one million students to claim their campus for Christ through prayer. CYC offers a phenomenal app you can check out here.

We encourage all campus movements to emphasize prayer and the Claim Your Campus app is a great way to engage students in prayer. Download it now to kickstart a movement of prayer on your campus!

5 Key Features of the Claim Your Campus App

Pray Now:
This section is designed to lead any student through a daily 15-minute prayer time for their school. The format is simple: Listen, Thank, Ask. Each day students read a passage of scripture, thank God for something specific He is doing in their school, and ask Him for help at their school and schools across the country.

21-Day Challenge:
Habits take time to build. The 21-Day Challenge can help you and your students build the habit of praying together daily.

Share Your Story:
Students from all over the country are using Claim Your Campus at their schools. This video feature gives students one minute to capture what God is doing at their school and then share it.

Groups:
Use the Groups section to form your own prayer group and/or join other groups. Students praying together in community for their school(s) is the foundation of CYC. The group feature keeps students connected, motivated, and encouraged to keep pressing on!

Prayer Walk Your Campus:
This feature describes how to prayer walk a campus in three easy steps. Invite. Pray. Report. It includes a brief tutorial and a downloadable prayer walk guide.

Social Media:
Stay connected through Tik Tok, Instagram, and Youtube pages; News and Updates can also be found in the app.

Cast the Vision: Prayer Equals Change

  • Use these videos to get excited about how God could change your campus through prayer and how He could use you to build a prayer movement at your school.
  • General Promo video
  • Marion School video

Invite Students to Be One in the Million

Students download the app using the QR code graphic & claim their campus!

We encourage all campus movements to emphasize prayer and the Claim Your Campus app is a great way to engage students in prayer.

4 Different Ways Students Can Claim Their Campus

  1. Start a Weekly Prayer Group. The CYC app provides prompts that change weekly.
  2. Host a prayer walk around your campus. The CYC app features a Prayer Walk Guide.
  3. Embed 5-10 minutes of Prayer into Your Weekly Cru Club Meeting. Build a CULTURE of prayer. CYC has done all the work for you. Click here for the Leader’s Guide and here for premade slides for up to 20 weeks. That is enough for an entire school year. CYC’s GRAB-N-GO resources make praying EASY.
  4. Participate in Annual National Events such as SYATP.

Invite the adults in your community to support SYATP by signing up for The Prayer Walk Project. This project offers a way for caring adults to join hands in prayer on the Saturdays before and after SYATP.

Prayer is the real power in any campus movement. Make it a non-negotiable in your ministry to emphasize prayer with adults and students and see how God moves.

Next Step

Download the Claim Your Campus app and consider how you could use it on your campus today. Do you have a prayer strategy for your plans? If not, send the app to a few student leaders and invite them to start praying for their campus!

DOWNLOAD THE APP
4 Ways to Prepare for a Prayer Walk
1
Prepare Your Heart

Surrender the Prayer Walk to the Lord. Ask the Lord for one or two scriptures to help prepare your heart. Jot them down. If you like, use them to inspire the people you invite, or share them with your team the day you meet to prayer walk. Pray for:

  • Divine appointments with people.
  • Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help.
  • God to guide your steps.
  • Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.
2
Prepare Your Team

Pray for Names. Ask the Lord to bring to mind specific names of students, volunteers, parents, pastors, and/or faculty you can ask to join your prayer walk. Keep in mind, this is not about numbers. Even one prayer partner is enough. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.”

Invite the People
that He brought to mind. Decide what mode of communication is best: text? social media? phone call? Give them a brief description of what a prayer walk is and what they can expect that day. Share what has motivated you to gather a team to pray. Be sure to tell them the date, the start and end times, and the location. Give them an RSVP date.

Send them any final details
on the day before. Remind your team what time you will begin and end and the location to meet. Let them know what to bring and any adjustments needed due to weather or other factors.

(During a Prayer Walk) Pray for: Divine appointments with people. Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help. God to guide your steps. Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

3
Prepare Your Campus

Check with an Insider at Your School. Once you choose your campus and gather your team, you may want to check with an insider at the school to see if there is anyone you need to notify ahead of time. Most likely, it will not be an issue if you are prayer walking after school or over the weekend on the parts of the campus that are open to the public. Avoid prayer walking on campus during school hours without permission.

4
Prepare Your Details

“WHO” DETAILS: By now, you know WHO is coming. But here are some other “WHO” questions to think about if you have a larger group. Who will…

  • begin the prayer walk (introduce/explain it)?
  • end the prayer walk?
  • lead smaller groups (if your team is large)?


“WHAT TO BRING” DETAILS
: You may want to bring copies of the Prayer Guide and the Leader Guide.

“WHERE/WHEN” DETAILS: Make sure everyone knows the date and time you will meet. Include starting point (address of meeting spot) and ending point (time and meeting spot).

“HOW” DETAILS: For your convenience, this Campus Prayer Walk Leader’s Guide provides a general flow and includes sample scripts of what to say from start to finish. If you can read it, you can lead it. But you may need to think through the unique needs of your prayer walk.

Would you like the prayer walk to be more casual or more organized? Do you have people who are comfortable prayer walking or more new people who may need more instruction?

You have prepared your part. Time to grab your walking shoes. Let’s do this!

Next Step
It is time to get on the campus to pray. Text one friend today and ask them if they would be willing to go to the school to prayer walk with you this week. Get your feet on the campus and pray together. Once you have done it yourself, it will be a lot easier to gather others to do it with you.
Prayer Walking

After the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert, God called Joshua to bring His people into the land He had promised them. The commander of the army of the Lord appeared to Joshua with instructions essentially for a prayer walk around the city of Jericho. And let’s just say the Israelites’ obedience to his words, made history. (If you are unfamiliar with this incredible story, you can read the whole story here.)

What is Prayer Walking?

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk. And you can do it anywhere: around your neighborhood, through your city, or even on your daily commute. Invite others to join you! As you walk together, let the Spirit of God use what you see to guide your prayers. Then, trust God to respond in His perfect way and timing.

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you. It puts you right where the students are—like God’s boots on the ground—allowing you to connect your heart to that specific location as you pray. And who knows? It might even lead to a chance meeting with a key person on campus. Many ministries have started with a simple “Hey there!” to a student or administrator during a prayer walk. A casual stroll can open unexpected doors!

If you have never done this before, no worries! Joshua—the young leader from the Bible—had not done it before either. It was his willingness and availability to God that mattered most. And the same goes for you—no experience required!

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk.

Prayer Walk in Three Easy Steps

Meet Up (5 minutes)

Grab a friend or two and meet on campus- ideally after school or on the weekend. Select and read a meaningful passage from the Bible together. Take a minute to pray a blessing over this time, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your prayers.

Walk & Pray (10-20 minutes)

Start walking the perimeter of the campus and let the Holy Spirit use who/what you see guide your prayers. Here are 5 ways you could begin praying:

  • Ask God to move by His Spirit on this campus and be glorified.
  • Pray people here would hunger and thirst for God.
  • Pray for the believers here to live wholeheartedly for Jesus and make others feel seen, known, and loved by God.
  • Pray for leaders in this school’s community (students, parents, administration, faculty, coaches, etc.)

Wrap It Up (5 minutes)

Select a spot to close your time together. Talk about how it went. Was there anything that stood out as significant or meaningful? Take a few minutes to thank God for this time. Express your love for Him and your confidence that He will respond to the prayers He heard today.

Other Prayer Walking Guides

If you would rather have a more specific guide to help you in your prayer walk, try one below:

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you.

Why Do It?

Prayer Walking Knocks Down Walls

What effect did Joshua’s and the Israelites’ obedience have on the fortified and powerful ancient city of Jericho? Well, the God of the Universe infused their faith-filled feet with power, causing the otherwise insurmountable walls of the city to collapse. That’s how they fought and won the battle of Jericho—without ever throwing a punch!

Now, maybe you are not planning to tear down any physical walls around your school—in fact, let’s definitely avoid that! But in the spiritual realm, every school is a battlefield for souls. On every campus, there are barriers to the gospel that need to be broken down. Inside every person, there are walls that separate us from God or keep us from fully experiencing the abundant life He wants for us.

Looking for a more current example of a battle fought and won with prayer? Check out this powerful story of what happened when a group of students in Marion, Indiana consistently and prayerfully put feet to their faith and watched God win the battle for their campus. If you want to read about more victories won with praying feet, check out Exodus 14 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

Some Other Great Reasons to Prayer Walk Your Campus

  • It is a place to gather other believers who have a heart for the campus.
  • It is a way to be on campus with a purpose.
  • Sometimes God uses these times to introduce us to key gatekeepers on campus.
  • It might surface some needs on the campus with which you could help.
  • It helps your team become more familiar with the campus and less fearful of going there.
  • It is better than doing nothing. Sometimes God moves when we take action.

 

Within the campus ministry of Cru, prayer walking has actually been shown to be the single most effective strategy in seeing new gospel movements started.
Dan Allen, Director of Mission Expansion

 

The powerful presence of God always has and STILL does mix with our prayers and supernaturally connects us more deeply to God, ourselves, and others. Prayer breaks down barriers that lie between us and wins the battle for souls.

Prayer walking can be your lead foot on any campus. Ready to grab a friend and step into the unknown with Him? Prayer walking is something anyone can do.

Next Step
Plan 15 minutes this week to stop at your local high school, walk around, and pray for the school. Bring a friend or do it alone; just get your feet on the campus and pray. Ask God to show you what next steps He would like you to take.

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