Prayer as Evangelism

"We prioritize prayer in this life as we live for the next."

Prayer can be an evangelistic tool.

When we pray with our children, they hear the desires of our heart and how we speak to and of God. This is powerful. When we sit down for a meal with an unbeliever and let him or her know that we would like to thank God for the food before we eat, the unbeliever is unexpectedly entering into a spiritual moment. This too is powerful.

Yet these little evangelistic instances won't happen if we're not concerned with prioritizing prayer. If we live as though prayer is unimportant, we won't initiate it around those who fail to practice it themselves. But if it really is a priority for us, we won't care about the circumstances as much as we care about doing it. The awkwardness isn't as much of a problem as the failure to do it. You see, prioritizing prayer isn't so much about setting certain times to pray (you could say, "praying religiously") as it is about living as though it is necessary and preeminently good. It's about having the conviction that God has called us to share our desires with Him. It's about believing that God uses prayer as a means to affect the world.

So, the next time you have an opportunity to pray amongst unbelievers, take the opportunity to live out your conviction before them. This is a way that you can show that you prioritize prayer, and it's a powerful experience for the unbeliever to behold.