Sharing Your Faith
Q: I’m not sure I know how to lead someone to the Lord. Are there any specific “rules” I should follow? What do I say?
A: Any Christian can lead someone to the Lord, so let me first encourage you not to succumb to fear or worry about what to say. Pray first and ask the Lord to fill your mouth with the words He would have you say. Then, follow this simple scriptural approach:
- Open a Bible to Romans 10. Have the person read aloud verses 9 and 10.
- Explain to the person that because these scriptures say that “… confession is made unto salvation,” you are going to lead him/her in a short prayer. Ask the person to repeat after you as you pray.
- Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your prayer so that the person will be sure to
- Acknowledge that he/she is a sinner (repentance).
- Ask the Father to cleanse him/her, by the blood of Jesus, from every sin he has committed—from the day he/she was born to this very moment.
- Invite Jesus to come into his/her heart and to be Master and Lord of his/her life.
- Thank God for saving his soul.
- Ask the person to read Romans 10:13 aloud. Now, ask him/her to read it again, but this time have him/her substitute his/her own name for “whosoever” in this verse.
The candidate will realize that he/her has fulfilled the simple requirements of verse 13 and that he/her is saved according to God’s Word, whether or not he feels any different!
You may warmly affirm this momentous decision and welcome your new brother or sister to the Body of Christ.
Q: What can I do to help a friend receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?
A: The person for the baptism in the Holy Spirit must be a born-again child of God. The work of the Holy Spirit is essential for Christian growth. Through this baptism God empowers the believer to develop and express his/her new life in Jesus Christ.
Many people desire to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but they don’t know how to do so. Frequently, I open the conversation by saying, “I would love to pray with you to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.” Then I proceed to:
- Open a Bible to Luke 11:10-13 and ask the person to read this passage aloud. These verses establish the way to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We simply “ask” in faith because we know that our loving heavenly Father would never give us a “counterfeit.”
- Ask the person to read Acts 2:4 aloud. Assure the individual that just as Jesus’ disciples spoke in tongues when the Holy Spirit came upon them, the individual will also speak in tongues when baptized in the Holy Spirit.
- Ask the individual to read Romans 8:26-28 aloud. This will confirm the purpose and the benefits of praying in “tongues.”
- Lead the individual in a short prayer during which he asks the Father to baptize him with the Holy Spirit. Now tell the individual that, by faith, you are going to pray in the Spirit together: Encourage the person to speak freely—as the Holy Spirit directs—regardless of how it may sound to the natural ear.
- You, the leader, should begin to pray aloud in tongues. After you have prayed together in tongues for a while, you may wish to sing in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15).
Although the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a one-time event, the “infilling” of the Holy Spirit goes on and on and never stops. Encourage your friend to pray in the Spirit every day and to expect to find a new richness in his/her Christian experience.