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*This is a follow-up post to How to Share Your Faith in Jesus

In How to Share Your Faith in Jesus, we learned that Christians should know how to communicate the gospel, know how to share your personal testimony, and know how to lead someone in response to the gospel. But the idea of sharing your faith can still feel intimidating even if you feel equipped to share God’s Word, and you’re passionate about Jesus, and filled with compassion for people to come to know Him.

It’s easy to get in our heads and feel like the pressure to lead someone to Jesus is all on us. I know what it’s like to feel that. So, here are two biblical tips God has used to encourage me. I believe they’ll give you confidence and peace as God uses you to share the gospel.

1. Rely on the Holy Spirit.

Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4)

Confession time: I’ve been a Christian for 20 years. I’m a minister. And I still get nervous about evangelism sometimes because I’m afraid I won’t think quickly enough to know what to say or do as the conversation progresses. Have you ever felt that way? Or, maybe sharing your faith makes you nervous for another reason.

But here’s some comfort for us: We don’t have to do this in your own strength. In 1 Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul said he relied on the power of the Holy Spirit rather than his own wisdom and power to lead people to trust in God. That’s not an excuse to be ill-equipped in our ability to share God’s Word and defend the faith, but rather an invitation remember it’s Holy Spirit who empowers us to be witnesses of Jesus. (Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2)

He gives us boldness, wisdom and the words to say. He releases gifts of the Spirit through us that reveal God personally and tangible to people. He guides us and orchestrates divine appointments. He opens the hearts of people, helps them understand the gospel message, and draws them to faith Christ.

Acts 8:26-39 shows us that the Holy Spirit leads us into and leads us through opportunities to share the gospel. Honestly, this passage encourages me in evangelism more than any other one. The Holy Spirit spoke to Phillip and told him exactly where to walk so he would cross paths with the treasurer from Ethiopia at the exact moment he was reading from Isaiah 53.

He led Philip to a person who was open and wanting to know more about Jesus and had questions. He stirred saving faith in the heart of that man to believe in Jesus when he heard the gospel and desire to be baptized.

I’ve found it so helpful to pray 5 second prayers quietly in my own heart even as I’m talking with someone about Jesus. You can pray simple phrases like these: “Holy Spirit, help me. Give me the words to say. How should I respond to that comment/question? Would you open this person’s heart to Jesus? What do I do next? Give me Your compassion for this person.” Holy Spirit is our Helper and He wants to help you tell others about Jesus.

2. Play your role.

…Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow… (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

When I first began learning to share my faith, I thought the goal was to “seal the deal” at the end of every gospel conversation. I thought I had to get the person to repeat a salvation prayer right then and there every time or else the conversation was a failure. Then, one day God showed me 1 Corinthians 3 and John 4:34-38  and how those principles apply to sharing our faith.

In 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, the apostle Paul is exhorting the believers to stop dividing over an exaggerated loyalty to different ministers through whom they believed the gospel. In making his point, he explains how God brings His word into our lives through different people, leading us to faith in Christ. One plants the seed of God’s Word, one waters the seed, and another brings in the harvest. But ultimately it is God who makes the seed grow.

Success (for lack of a better word) in evangelism doesn’t necessarily look like getting a person to pray and commit to Christ in that moment. Success in evangelism looks like playing the role God wants you to play in that person’s life, in that particular conversation–whether planting, watering, or harvesting the seed of the gospel.

For each of us, coming to faith in Christ is a process. There are multiple conversations with believers or exposures to the gospel message that culminate in the moment we actually give our lives to Jesus. The Lord will work in our hearts over time.

So, maybe when you chat with a co-worker about faith you’re planting a seed of the gospel because they’ve never heard about Jesus before. Maybe when you talk with a friend at school about Jesus, God sent you to water a seed of the gospel He used someone else to plant in their heart, and that’s all you needed to do at that time.

And maybe, when you speak with a family member you’ve praying for and sharing with about Christ for a long time, there’s come a moment when they repent and believe and you get to be a part of seeing that seed of the gospel come to harvest.

Every role is important. God uses all of them. No role can happen without the others.

The best part? It’s not your job or to the seeds grow. 1 Corinthians 3 says God makes the seed grow. Your job and mine is to partner with God, love people, and share His word with them, and He does the supernatural work in their hearts to draw them to faith in His Son. The pressure is off. Isn’t that a relief? God’s got this. He is reconciling the world to Himself through faith in Jesus and we get to join Him in the work, but the heavy lifting is on Him. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21)

Let’s Talk: Has this blog encouraged you in sharing your the gospel or shifted your perspective on evangelism? How so? Discuss this post in the comments below.