Restaurant prayers - an evangelistic opportunity

For some time now I have made a habit of asking our servers (waiter and waitresses) what they would like prayer for. When they bring the food and ask if they can get anything else I simply say, "we like to pray for our waiters / waitresses, is there anything you'd like prayer for?" It's not that hard to do, you should give it a try and see the responses and opportunities. Only once have I had someone say "no, I'm good" and there would have been a great witnessing opportunity there had I taken the bait. Only once did the person say "let me think about it" and then come back with an answer. With that simply comment of "is there anything you'd like prayer for" I have had people immediately respond with...

• my teen needs help getting through school
• this is my first day back at work since having my baby and I'm really missing her and struggling with working
• I need prayer because I just got this job and myself and my 4 kids are homeless
• my 4 month old daughter is sick
• "everything"
• pray for my husband and I because we are trying to reconcile

the other night when I asked our waitress my question she said, without skipping a beat, "my friend just lost her 3 year old girl (to death) and needs help getting through it"

Here is what I know to be true...
1. When asked for prayer virtually everyone has something they needed prayer for and they weren't upset I asked.
2. There is a hurting world out there, how desperate must you feel to immediately tell a complete stranger "I'm homeless" or "my marriage needs help"
3. I always leave a tract of some kind with a gospel message tract, and usually write a short handwritten note on the receipt. I must believe it is received different when they know I prayed for them. (one time in fact I asked a young man for prayer need - he came back later and said people usually left tracts warning him of hell without ever talking to him, he said was already saved - he appreciated me talking with him before the "hell / heaven talk".
4. Every response given can be an open door if I am bold enough to take it a step past prayer and verbally go farther to ask them about their faith.
5. I need prayer that I might be 100 times more bold to move past praying for someone hurting, to starting the conversation about eternity. I believe God can use a tract, but there is something about a verbal witness.

Maybe I will try the "what's something I can pray for you about" approach if I am in a mall, there would be a much better chance to have a long conversation than with a waitress waiting on lots of busy tables.

PS. I was in uniform the last time I asked the waitress who mentioned her friends 3 year old (I do it whether in uniform or not). When a different waitress brought the bill I found our waitress outside on a smoking break when we left and I gave her a tract and my business card and told her if we could help comfort her or her friend, talk about the things of eternity, or pray with them more about anything at all to call or email, and said "that's what we're here for".

I am now recording my restaurant prayers in my ipod so if I go back to the same restaurant I can recall anything we talked about and hopefully pick up the conversation.

I know the devil always jumps me right after every encounter and says, "you could have done more, or done it different", but I will trust the results of seed planting to God and will pray for greater boldness at future encounters.

Give the prayer request method to start a conversation about spiritual things with someone and let me know how it goes.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

An outline to remember the G.O.S.P.E.L.

God, Our, Sin, Paying, Everyone, Life




Have you believe and accepted God gift of eternal life on His terms? Have you repented of your sins and turned your life over to Him? Are you living for yourself or for the God who offers you salvation today? If you have questions don't hesitate to ask. If you are save and have the answer to eternity... who have you shared the gospel with today?
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Don't cry "He is risen"

Posted this last year - still as good today!

He is risen indeed.

Although some of the lyrics include the words "don't cry, He is risen" I know that it referred to sorrow, but as I listen I wept with joy, for He is risen indeed!

OH YEAH!!!!! Sidenote - Samuel Ljungblahd is the Salvationist wearing the SA high collar uniform!



Live holy, preach Jesus!

Pastor says "Spend Easter 'on the road" (OneNewsNow.com)

Pastor: Spend Easter 'on the road' (OneNewsNow.com)
Russ Jones - OneNewsNow - 4/22/2011 3:45:00 AM

Easter and Christmas are two holidays that typically draw Christians to church. But one pastor believes that's the wrong place for believers to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.


Rev. Eric Foley is author of The Whole Life Offering and pastor of Doers of The Word Evangelical Church, which meets simultaneously in Colorado Springs and in Seoul, Korea. He says the Bible suggests the proper place to celebrate Easter is on the road.

He references Matthew 28:7, where the angel tells the "women who come to anoint Jesus' body [to] 'go quickly [and] tell his disciples he's risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him.'" From that, he decides that "if we want to be faithful Christians at Easter, then the way that we truly celebrate Easter isn't to dress in our fine clothes...gather together for a worship service, and then...go home and eat with our family members, but we ought to be able to go. It's almost as if it's best if there's a sign on the [locked] church door...that says, 'He is risen, and he's gone ahead of you out into your community, and that's where you will meet him.'"

Much of Foley's ministry is aimed at areas that practice great persecution against Christians, where churches do not have the luxuries of overhead projectors and other resources. So he says leaders have to know scripture well.

"They have to be able to make a compelling presentation of the gospel. That ought to challenge us as Christians in the United States to ask this Easter, 'Could we be a living Bible to the people that we meet? Could the celebration of Easter take place, not just in that hour on Sunday morning when we gather together with the church, but when we leave? Where are we going, and how are we going to celebrate Easter by sharing with the people who do not yet know the message of the risen Lord,'" the pastor decides.

Ultimately, Foley says Easter Sunday is the perfect day to practice both of those through acts of service in one's community.
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What do you think? More importantly how are you planning to tell the world about the Risen Savior this week?

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Make sure you use your words.

"Use your words".

My wife and I used to say this to our girls when they were younger and would be crying or upset. They would often cry, grunt, whine, or point to tell us what they wanted. Our response was usually to say, "use your words". No matter how good we are at point in a direction and using body language, without our words it is up to the listener to interpret and guess what we want them to know. To get our point across we can only reach a new level of clarity and understanding when we "use your words"

A good salvationist friend of mine recently quoted, "Preach the Gospel, and when necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi. He stated that this quote had come up countless times in the last week and he was reminded that we must let our lives be examples of God's love.

I agree it is absolutely right to live our lives to back up the gospel message, but we must remember that without the words (the Gospel Truth of Jesus Christ) that it is only by Jesus that we are saved and changed, people will just think we are "good people" doing "good works".

My challenge to him, myself, and everyone who claims the name of Jesus is to make sure we USE WORDS because it is necessary.

Don't make people guess or interpret who you are pointing to.... make sure you use your words.

As we approach Good Friday when we remember Jesus death and Resurrection "Easter" Sunday, use every opportunity this week to tell people about Jesus our Savior!

I guess it is this dual concept of proper living and the need for words that causes me to always end my blog the same way.....

Live holy, preach Jesus.

Called to be a Salvation Army Officer

Live holy, preach Jesus!