A Prayer for Boldness to Share Your Faith with Your Neighbors

　　By: Emma Danzey

　　Bible Reading:“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:30-31

　　Read or Listen Below:

　　Who is my neighbor? Biblically speaking a neighbor is anyone around us. This is not just a physical resident who lives next door. This is being aware of the people in our pathways each day. When it comes to evangelism, it can be very intimidating to share our faith with others. Why is that? We are so grateful to be in the family of God and for what Jesus has done for us. We literally call this good news, the gospel, yet we walk around so often feeling like we need to conceal it to not offend others.

　　2 Corinthians 2:15-16 says, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?”

　　The truth is that we will be either pleasant or we will be a reminder of death to those who reject the gospel. The enemy can try to get in our heads so that we will avoid sharing with others altogether, but this is going against the final words of Jesus before His ascension. He told us to go and make disciples everywhere. Whether we are telling our literal neighbors about Christ’s love for them or sharing with a neighbor overseas on the other side of the world, we are all called and commanded as believers in Jesus to tell of His life, death, and resurrection.

　　Apathy, silence, and fear can block our ability to see people as Jesus does. What if we stopped and recognized our barriers and the lies the enemy or our flesh tell us? What if we had open hearts to love others like Christ, to tell them the truth about sin and death, but offer them the greatest gift that has ever been given? Yes, we have to share the bad news, but we get to share the good news too!

　　Let's Pray:

　　Dear Jesus,

　　We confess that we have missed opportunities to tell other people about Jesus. We have hidden the light from those around us who are perishing in a sinful world. Help us to break free from the lies that we have believed and be empowered by Your Spirit to share this great news. We pray for boldness to share faith with our neighbors. Would you help us find resources, pray, and press into the Christian community to support one another in the great commission?

　　Where we have insecurities, fill us with Your confidence. Where we have pride, remove our will for Your will. Where we have fear, give us great peace. Help us to remember that we do not save people, You do. Help us to feel the responsibility to be your vessels and Your ambassadors here on earth, but without the improper view that we can change a heart. You are the God over all and only Your Spirit can save by Your blood on the cross. Remind us of the joy that we have in being free in You. Help that love and that peace drive our conversations to share the hope that we have with others unashamedly.

　　Give us words to say by Your Holy Spirit and Your Scriptures. Open up doors for relationships with unbelievers to pray for them and discuss eternity. Help us to represent you well in humility, kindness, and truth. We pray against church hurt or negative past experiences for these individuals who need open hearts. Soften their hearts and open their eyes. We pray for sensitive family relationships to receive the gospel in love even if they have heard it before from us. We pray for boldness to share with strangers who you lead us to in our daily detours. You are glorified and worthy. We praise You for the great salvation that You have given to us and ask in faith that You would use us to share this hope and witness Your Spirit at work in the lives of those around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

　　©GettyImages/coffeekai

　　Emma Danzey’s mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew and mom to Graham. Emma serves alongside her husband in ministry, she focuses most of her time in the home, but loves to provide articles on the Bible, life questions, and Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 on Crosswalk in 2021. Most recently, Emma released Treasures for Tots, (Scripture memory songs) and multiplebooks and devotionals for young children.During her ministry career, Emma has releasedWildflower: Blooming Through Singleness, two worshipEP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, and ran the Refined Magazine. You can view her articles on her blog atemmadanzey.wordpress.comand check out her Instagram @Emmadanzey.

　　Listen to the Your Nightly Prayer Podcast

　　We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer, where you can sign up to receive it every evening in your inbox. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on God. Check out an episode below:

　　Now that you've prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below