“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).

As many of you are preparing for overseas work, it is essential that you become God’s light right here where you now live and work. All missionary candidates preparing for overseas ministry should be involved in evangelism. An individual cannot automatically become a missionary by crossing the ocean. Missions and a heart for the lost must be cultivated at home first. As we are faithful to God right now, He will empower us to be His witnesses everywhere we go. We will then expect to see His power manifested as we go into mission’s work. The harvest is ripe, and Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He promises that miracles will accompany those who go and preach the good news!

We decided to make evangelism a priority in our lives. We try to be a witness on a daily basis. Sometimes we fail, but our hearts’ desire is to be His witness to the lost wherever we go; whether we are in our neighborhood, in a place of business, or traveling. The key is to have an evangelistic outlook on life. I guarantee that this will make all the difference in the world for you. It is just too easy to yield to the enemy’s strategy of closing ourselves off from the world. He will tell us we don’t have time or that people will reject us. The truth is that the world is ready to hear the good news. God has increased the hunger in the lost almost everywhere. And God is also doing the miraculous. We have seen people come out of comas and get healed in the Name of Jesus. God wants to show the unsaved that He cares and is the answer to their life’s need.

“Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35)

God’s Power Operating Through You

We are messengers of God who are empowered by the Holy Spirit with the delegated authority to proclaim the glad tidings and good news of the Gospel, unrestricted and with freedom, to a lost and dying world. God has anointed, us, His people, to manifest God’s power by mighty works, deeds and miracles.

This is my description of what evangelism really is from a combination of dictionary definitions from Vines Expository Dictionary. What does it mean to have God’s power operating through you in evangelism? The noun “dunamis” in the word “power” means “ability, might, of that which manifests God’s power, of mighty works, mighty deeds, and miracles.” Everything you do in demonstrating God’s might that touches the life of another is His power. It’s His ability reaching out to the unsaved and not your own. It’s the demonstration of His life flowing through you in every act, the fragrance of His Presence, when you minister to the lost.

The noun also is “exousia” which denotes “freedom of action, right to act, unrestricted, authority delegated“. The body of Christ has been restricted too long. We have a right to act and share Christ with others. People are lost, and many of them are searching for truth. God has commissioned us to freely speak His words of life about Jesus. We are ambassadors of Christ, having a ministry of reconciliation for those who have been separated from Him.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

The verb “exousiazo” in the word “power” means “to exercise authority, have authority, of the power of rulers, to be brought under the power of a thing.” We must learn to exercise this authority. It is ours to use fully for God’s glory. It is “committed to those who on becoming believers, were empowered by the spirit of God, are indwelt by Him, and will exercise it hereafter for God’s glory.” We are empowered by the spirit of God for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. The word evangelism or evangelist is “evangelizo” and means “a messenger of good, to proclaim glad tidings and good news, gospel.”

There is no greater joy than sharing the gospel with those who do not know Christ. God has given the body of Christ authority to reach out to the lost with a demonstration of His power and anointing. Because you are one who is interested in world harvest and are preparing to reach the nations, we encourage you to get involved in some form of evangelism and pray for those who are lost. You are God’s messenger empowered by the Holy Spirit with authority! Listed below are some ways to begin to pray for the lost. Prayer will be a key to your fruitfulness because prayer and outreach go together. This will help you grow in your call and will prepare you for your destiny. Don’t let the enemy fool you. Reaching out to the lost will bless you in every area of your life. God even redeems your time, and the wonderful joy of the Lord becomes your strength.


How to Pray as You Reach Out to the Lost

“Oh, when will Christians learn the great truth that what God in heaven desires to do needs prayer on earth as its indispensable condition. It is as we realize this that we will see that intercession is the chief element in the conversion of souls.” Andrew Murray

• Pray that God would minister to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs of the lost. Pray that He would use you to touch their real needs by demonstrating His love and care. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:1, 3) 

• Pray for God to open the spiritual eyes of the Lord and set them free from spiritual captivity. Pray that they might have ears to hear the truth and understand it. “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (II Corinthians 4:3-4) 

• Pray for opportunities to get to know the lost in the area where you live and work. Ask God to help you build relationships and identify with them. Pray that you might be a fragrance of Christ. “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (I Corinthians 9:22-23)

• Pray for opportunities to witness and have boldness in witnessing at the right time. Pray that God will send others into their life to witness as well. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; making the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:2-5)

A Prayer for the Lost

“Father, we confess that we want to see change in our lives. Give us such a heart and passion after you that we may begin to see your glory flow out of us to convict and save the lost. Release your presence through us as you did through Charles Finney when he walked through factories and saw workers drop to their knees under your glory and cried out for forgiveness although not one word had been spoken or preached. May the faintest shadow of your presence in our lives heal the sick and restore the lame we meet in the streets. Let your presence so saturate us that unsaved guests can’t step into our homes or be around us with unrepentant hearts. May your glory bring conviction in their lives that lead to salvation, not because of the words we say but because of your presence and power in our hearts. May we be filled with the glory of God where your presence resides in every neighborhood and where every person passing through is touched by the power of God.” Prayer by Tommy Tenney

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph – as trophies of Christ’s victory – and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

For additional training in setting nations free; an anointing for missions, a passion that will burn like fire and the power to set nations free, read the book called Go Forth in Power by Norman and Debbie Przybylski.