Ankerberg Show

Announcer: Welcome to the John Ankerberg Show discipleship segment. Whether you've recently discovered your faith in Christ or have been a longtime follower, we aim to provide you with the tools and encouragement to strengthen your relationship with Him.

We are dedicated to equipping you to confidently share the hope that resides within you, as instructed in 1 Peter 3:15. Join us now for the John Ankerberg Show discipleship segment as we embark on this journey of spiritual growth and learning together.

John Ankerberg: Hi, we're back. We're talking with Shiamala and with Sunder Krishnan, and we're talking about praying for people that are unsaved. When you present the gospel and you hit a brick wall, they don't listen, they don't seem to want it, what do you do?

We're talking about the power of prayer and also some other things that are part of our life or should be part of our life as Christians. Sunder, you've got three elements that you say that God uses in the life of the believer: our words, our character, and our compassion. Let's talk about those three right now.

Sunder Krishnan: I actually have to give Aristotle credit for this. It was a model between a teacher and a student, and there are three channels through which that communication takes place. First is the words, and the words that we speak give perspective or understanding to the listener.

Then there's our character. Our character builds credibility. In other words, they are able to believe what we say because of the kind of people we are. If there's a mismatch between our words and our life, then they may get perspective, but they don't get confidence in it.

Then perhaps most important of all, what motivates them is our compassion. So our words, our character, and our compassion. Those three things work together, and we talked about what to do when after we've presented the gospel we need to pray.

I'm discovering that in many cases, you have to start praying long before you get even the permission to witness. We recently moved into a community about 18 months ago. For the first time we have neighbors. In the church that I lived for 35 years, I lived on a busy street and had no neighbors. The church was on one side, the refuge home on the other, and a huge parking lot behind us.

As we've got to know the neighbors, the very first thing that happened was we had them over to our home. By the way, hospitality is such a huge thing, and in a country like India, that comes very naturally. They had their one-year-old baby with us at that time and said, "I need to give the baby some medication."

I asked, "What is it?" and then they talked about a fairly serious illness she had, although she looked very normal. So very naturally, we just said, "Is it okay if we pray for them?" No hesitation at all. In fact, I've never known anybody to say no to prayer.

After I finished praying for the baby, there were just tears running down her eyes. So that's the first time. Three days later, I happened to see her again, and this time she said, "You know, she's going to come off this medication she's been on."

So we said, "Can my wife and I come over to your home and pray for her, the baby, that night?" "Oh yes." And then she said, "Pray for me too." I asked what I should pray for her, and now she's asking us to pray for her. "Pray that I won't cry when I have to leave her to go back to work."

So we went over that night. They took us on a tour around their home. We played with the baby, and then I prayed, and again there were tears running down her eyes. Her husband, who hadn't said much until this time, said, "When is your last Sunday at our church?" thinking of our retirement.

I told him. He said, "We're both going to be there." We had never said a word about them coming to church, and they came that day to church. Then a few couple of months passed, and Shiam was going to invite her and two other people to the home for a tea.

She said, "Well, I can't come that day because some people are coming to erect this elaborate play equipment." And then she broke down. She said, "I've never told anybody outside my family," and here we were being entrusted with a family secret, "My daughter is really, really, really sick."

So we just prayed. That day, I didn't even pray for healing. The Bible talks about lamentation. So many of the psalms are people just crying out to God, "Why, God? How long, O God? Why are you doing this to me?" That's legitimate prayer too.

So I prayed that day, and again she started crying. Then we went away for two months on a trip, and she hadn't yet started walking. So we were constrained to say, "We're going to pray for Brooklyn, that she will walk by the time we're back." When we were in Singapore, we get an email from them, "Brooklyn is walking. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers." We still haven't presented the Roman Road to them, but we are continuing to pray with them and build relationships with them.

John Ankerberg: Shiamala, I think it's so important for people to keep in mind that when somebody that is a non-Christian shares a big problem with them, that we ask for permission, "Could we pray for you?"

So many things happen in just our praying for them. First of all, it may be the first time in their life they actually see a real Christian that actually knows and talks to God. That impresses them because they don't have that kind of relationship, and they don't know of anybody else that has that kind of relationship. So that immediately, they remember that one.

Then the second thing, they listen to how you talk to God and what you say. They remember that. And then how you actually have compassion for them, that you would take time out to pray for them and their family or whatever the problem is. That opens the door later on for you to say that again.

In fact, when I have done this with people that I've just met for the first time and didn't have time to talk with them and I just say, "Could I have a quick word of prayer? I'd like to pray for you." The next time when they saw me coming, they said, "Thank you for that prayer you gave before, but listen, would you pray for me again?" So they come to you because nobody else is going to pray for them. Nobody else is going to talk to God on their behalf. So prayer, just asking people to pray for them, is very important, I think.

Shiamala Krishnan: Yes, and praying with them. And you know, the same verse that Sunder read about treating them with respect. So actually asking them for permission. What I do is I ask them, "Would you mind if I prayed for you?"

But I also say to them, "I pray in Jesus' name. Is that okay?" And invariably they say yes. I remember one time, I have a seamstress, and she's been such a blessing to me. So I said to her, "You have blessed me so much. I would love to bless you by praying for you. Are you okay with that?"

I've known her now for about five years, and so quite often when she finishes making an outfit for me, I bless her by praying for her. So this one time, there was another client of hers there. So when I began to pray for my seamstress, the client came and said, "Please pray for me too," and she began to tell me about her family situation.

So I just brought both these ladies to Jesus, and I just simply prayed for their families. The other lady was so visibly moved. She said to me, "You pray like you know Him." And you know, that's what they need to know, that you can have a relationship with Jesus.

When they get to see you in relationship with Him, it wets their appetite to say, "How?" In fact, my mother-in-law often heard me pray, and one time I was teaching on prayer, and she said to my daughter, "I'd like to go to that seminar because I want to learn to pray like your mom prays."

Of course, she doesn't know Jesus, and so she thought maybe there was something that she could learn. And so we're trying to encourage her to first of all get to know Jesus, and then she will have her own beautiful prayer life with Him.

John Ankerberg: Many people that are in other religions in the world, okay, when Christians pray for them, they recognize a couple of things: that our Christian God, our Lord Jesus Christ, He actually cares about us, loves us, and asks us to come to Him in prayer. Their gods do not love them, really have compassion on them, and don't ask the people to come because they're not going to answer.

So immediately there's a difference, there's a reality, and you're teaching people about our Lord, what the difference is between the God of the Bible and all of these other religions. I just think it's so powerful. Sunder, what else would you say to people that are listening right now to encourage them? Let's say they're in a small village, and there's only a few Christians there, and they're surrounded by non-Christians. What would you advise them to do?

Sunder Krishnan: Well, I think first and foremost, as a community, when they love one another, in the Bible it says that the non-Christians saw the Christians and said, "See how they love one another." Because like you said, that relational dimension is so unique. So I think that's one important thing, that as a community loves one another, the stories will get around.

Secondly, I think also in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, it talks about unbelievers coming into a worship service and sensing the presence of God. So I would say make your worship services a place where you're truly passionately seeking God. Those are two things.

The third thing I would say is that no one of you has to reach out all by yourself. In the body of believers, the Bible says He's given you different gifts. And so if together you say, "How can I serve the community that we live in?" through the various gifts.

Some people have the gifts of helps, they can just serve people. Others have the gifts of mercy, they can visit the sick. Others have the gift of prayer and prophecy. Some can actually teach. So three things I would say: love one another, worship God passionately, and together serve the community, and that will open up opportunities for witness.

John Ankerberg: So folks, what we're trying to do is to encourage you to actually think that God might use you to actually lead one of your friends that does not know the Lord Jesus into a personal relationship with Him. You've got to know a few of the Bible verses. You've got to be able to explain it.

And then maybe if you explain it to the folks, they'll either accept the Lord or they'll say, "I'll think about it," or they might just say, "That's not for me." So then what we've been trying to encourage you is don't give up on them. Continue to, with your words, talk to them, but your character has got to back it up, and you have to show compassion to these folks.

If you do, they are watching. Don't ever believe that they are not watching you. They are watching you every minute, okay? And if you live for the Lord and the Lord will use you, you will find that eventually, many of these people will come to you for help, and they'll ask you, "Can I come into that relationship with Jesus that you have because I certainly need Him?"

All right, we're so glad that you joined us this week. Next week we're going to talk about in the Christian's life, how do we resist and overcome the temptations that come to us? All right? We all have temptations, and many times we will fall. What is our standing before God when we do fall? We're going to talk about this important question next week. I hope that you'll join us.

Announcer: Join us next time for part two of our discipleship series, Follow Me: Experiencing the Joy of Walking with Jesus, as Sunder and Shiamala pick up where we left off this week.